Dearly, Thoroughly, Completely Loved
Many of us who believe in God don’t understand that He loves us because we’re His children.
His love isn’t something we have to earn.
He doesn’t love us because we try hard and never make mistakes.
He doesn’t love us because we work hard and serve Him well.
He loves us because we are His kids.
His love is simple and beautiful, and everything about us changes forever as we encounter His love heart to heart and realize it is real and it is for us. All of us need to know His love personally.
We have come to know [by personal observation and experience], and have believed [with deep, consistent faith] the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides continually in him. (1 John 4:16 AMP)
Do you struggle to understand how much God really loves you?
Do you suspect He just puts up with you?
Do you feel like your worth in His eyes is wrapped up in what you do for Him? (This is a very common assumption.)
Or does your heart know, deep inside, that you are loved just because you’re His child and He made you?
This month at Becoming the One, we’re talking about a culture of service—which only makes sense when we know how much we’re loved!
Serving is always a sacrifice of some kind, and the only way to serve God, your spouse, or others well is to know God loves you. If you don’t know you’re loved, serving can get messy. It can start to look like duty or obligation or—even worse—fear.
“I’m doing this because I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“If I fail, God will stop loving me.”
Is there a hole inside your heart where God’s love needs to go?
If yes, here are three Bible verses to contemplate with the Holy Spirit this week:
But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8 AMP)
For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above nor the world below—there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:38–39 GNT)
The Lord your God is with you.
He is a hero who saves you.
He happily rejoices over you,
renews you with his love,
and celebrates over you with shouts of joy. (Zeph. 3:17 GW)
Beloved child of God, may you encounter God’s love this week!
May you come to know how dearly, thoroughly, and completely your heavenly Father loves you.
Your heavenly Father loves you more than you realize! To learn more about His amazing, unending love, check out Becoming the One by Salomé Roat. Click here to learn more. The book is also available in Spanish.