Wednesday, August 31, 2022
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3:1a
To Be Loved By God
What does it feel like to be loved by God? Do you ever stop and think about it? If you do, you will feel overwhelmed by the enormity of this concept. Or do you think that God could never really love you because of all your faults and failures?
God gave His son for the redemption of a world that was full of people with faults and failures. He did not give His Son for those who are spotless and perfect because there is no such thing except Jesus Himself. He loved us so much that, in our worst condition – sinners far away from Him – He took the punishment of our sin for us. His death on the cross paid for our redemption and that is the greatest love gift ever given. He did that before we even acknowledged He existed. He did it for the good and the bad. He doesn’t love one and hate the other.
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
There are those of us who cannot imagine that the love of God is for us. We see nothing but our failures when we look in the mirror (and when we don’t), and there is a continuous tape playing in our minds of all the reasons why He couldn’t love us and why we are so far out of the bounds of His grace. The real truth is that none of this is true. He wants the broken and He loves to bring beauty from the ashes of our lives. And He will do it every time if we let Him and accept it.
As a child of God, there is nothing you can do to make God love you more. As a child of God, there nothing you can do to make God love you less. – Van Houser
Even when we sin, we do not loose God’s affection for us. He still loves us, but sin deprives us of God’s blessings. He also does not take away the consequences of our sin as far as the world is concerned. Jesus’ sacrifice took away the eternal consequences of our sin and gave us eternal life. But there may be some earthly consequences we still have to pay. (Like a speeding ticket or broken relationships) We can sometimes mistakenly feel that because God loves us, He will take away those earthly consequences as well. That is not true. Truth is that He loves us no matter what but He will allow us to feel the sting of our poor choices, like any good father would.
Being loved by God also means we belong to God. We are His. He calls us His own and gives us a heavenly inheritance that is greater than any earthly amount of gold or treasure. We are His children and He will NEVER renounce His claim on our lives. We WILL fail. There HAVE BEEN times when like the prodigal we have felt unworthy to be called His children. But when we turn to the Father, He declares before all of heaven, earth, and hell, "He’s/She’s mine!"
Because we are so loved by Him, we can have confidence to walk in faith in Him. We can know that He will never give us anything except what is very best for us. We can feed our faith by studying the Word of God. His claim on us is sovereign and nothing and no one can take that away from us ever. In His sovereignty we have victory over every battle. We have a safe place in Him whne we cannot find a safe place on earth.
Sadly, so many never really know what it feels like to be loved by God. We have trouble accepting that He could love us and especially that He would choose to love us. His love is given to us freely and unconditionally but we have to receive it to really experience it and know what it means to be loved by Him. Accept His gift and understand completely what it is to be loved by God.
