I wish I was always lovable. You know, the kind of person who’s sweet, selfless, thoughtful, and kind. A person who goes out of their way to help others, and meets a need without even having to be asked.
But if I’m honest with myself, I can often be anything but that! Considering that I lost my battle with my temper over the weekend…again…and have I mentioned that pride continues to have its way with me? That’s a side of me that definitely isn’t easy to love.
Certainly if it was up to me to be worthy of God’s love, I would continually fall short.
Yet I am loved by God. And yes, God had a choice. He chose to love me. With all my faults and failures and shortcomings and the ugly stains of sin, He still chose to love me.
Sometimes I think I take God’s love for granted. It seems like I’ve kind of always known that God loves me, so I just let that fact pass me right by, never taking the time to really dwell on it. So today I want to consider some truths about God’s love for me, wonder at the magnificence of it, and praise Him for loving me.
I am loved by God.
1. God’s love is His gift to me. I can’t be good enough to earn it, I can’t be bad enough to lose it. Perhaps the most well-known verse in the Bible, John 3:16, says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…” God didn’t just say He loved me; He showed me that He did by sending His Son to die for me. As with any gift, all I have to do is accept this expression of love.
2. Nothing can separate me from God’s love. You’re probably familiar with this passage.
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~Romans 8:38-39
I think that about covers it all!! No event, no past or future circumstance, no distance, no person can remove me from God’s love.
3. There is no greater love than God’s love for me. John 15:13 says, “…love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus demonstrated the greatest love possible when He laid down His life for me. As much as another person may love me, that love pales in comparison to God’s love.
4. God loved me enough to make me His child. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:” ~I John 3:1 I know how much love I have in my heart for my children. When I think about God loving me that much, how can I doubt Him and His plan for my life? I like how Jesus addresses this in Matthew 7:9-11. Just as we as parents want to give good things to our kids, don’t we realize how much more our God wants to bless us with what He knows is best for us? How thankful I am to be a child of God.
5. God’s love for me never ends. “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” ~Jeremiah 31:3 The nation of Israel is being directly referenced in this verse, yet it applies just as well to His church, those of us who are saved. Failure in my Christian walk today doesn’t mean God won’t love me anymore. According to I John 4:16, God is love. It’s His very nature. That’s Who He is, and that can never change.
Will you join me today in praising God for His love for you?
He left His Father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
~Charles Wesley
Related posts:
Lost Your Hope? Find It Here
7 Promises of God to Carry Me Through the Week
Who’s the Boss – Feelings or Truth?
I have to get used to the comment button being at the top. 🙂
It is amazing that God loves me, even me, no matter what I do, before I was even born. And I love that hymn!
Yes, I’ve still got so much to play around with on the blog – not sure if I can change the location of the comments, but I liked being able to see them at the bottom of the home page, too.
That hymn is one of my favorites!!