Have you ever had these thoughts?
I’ve done things I’m not proud of…there’s no way God still loves me.
Or …
I’ve been told from the time I was a kid that I’m unlovable…and I’m supposed to believe God loves me?
As a pastor, I get asked all the time about how much God loves us. I get it. Our journey tell us God can’t love us…or at least not very much.
But you know what? No matter where you are or where you’ve been, God loves you more than you can imagine.
What I’m saying is there is absolutely nothing you can do to make God love you less.
I know that that sounds a little crazy. But it’s true!
Often our human interactions set the pace for how we see God. That makes sense, it’s just human nature. But when people set the standard for our understanding of God, it sets us up to misunderstand our Heavenly Father. In our human relationships, our actions directly impact someone’s desire to love us. We quickly learn that if we give people the things they want from us, they will love us…at least for a time. But when we stop, they withhold their love. That’s why relationships can hurt so much.
But you can rest in the reality that God is different.
The Apostle Paul puts it this way in Romans 8:37-39:
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So let me encourage you. God loves you because He is love! He knows inside and out…all your hurts, habits, and hang-ups…and he loves you anyway. When Jesus died on the cross, every single wrong that you ever would do was placed upon Jesus. Everything! He got what you deserved, so you can be forgiven and free.
Maybe you’ve known him for 50 years. Or maybe you are just beginning a relationship with him. Either way, God’s love is the same…it is beyond our imagination. And the Bible says there is nothing that can separate us from his love!
So today my friend, be free from life’s performance hamster-wheel.
Stop believing “My performance = God’s love”.
It’s not the reality of Jesus.
You are loved and cannot make God love you less. To enjoy his love, it only takes our obedience. When we live in obedience to God’s word, we experience his love in its fullness. Simply respond to Jesus and embrace the position he bought for you on the Cross. You are “accepted in the beloved” as the Bible puts it. When you fail…and we all do…just repent, return and rejoice.
God loves you and you can’t change that!