God’s love for you is so amazing. When you understand God’s love for you, it sets you free to become everything He has created you to be. When my husband, Joel, tells me that he loves me, I don’t let those words just fall to the ground. I don’t let them go in one ear and out the other. You know what I let them do? I let them sink deep down in my heart because that allows me to build confidence. It gives me a treasure of trust in our relationship. When I know that he loves me, I’m not fearful and thinking, “Oh my goodness! If I don’t measure up today; if I forget to cook him breakfast (which I’ve done!); if I don’t balance the checkbook right; if I don’t get everything perfect, it makes me wonder what’s he thinking and how he feels about me. Am I still on a good note with him?” No, because I know he loves me, because he says he loves me, I trust that he loves me. So I meditate on that, and that frees me to be all that I’m supposed to be in our relationship.
It is the same way with God’s love in our lives and our relationship with Him. When God’s love is rooted and established deep in our hearts, it gives us the confidence to move in the right direction. We are not wasting time with thoughts like “I wonder if He loves me. I wonder if I’m doing good enough or being enough.” The deep assurance of His love allows us to be confident because we know beyond a shadow of doubt how much He loves us. When we are confident in His love, we can move forward into becoming all He desires us to be.
God has given us His Word to tell us how He feels about us, and it describes His great love for us. In Psalm 8, it says that God is mindful of us. We are on His mind day in and day out. What is He thinking? Is He thinking about our failures? Is He thinking about what we’re not doing right? No, Jeremiah 29:11 tells us His thoughts toward us are good. They are not for harm. They’re to give us 
a future and a hope. It says in Isaiah that He’s longing to be good to those who are looking for His goodness. In Romans 5, we find that even while we were sinners, God still chose us! He loves us despite our condition and performance. Romans 8:38 says that nothing can separate us from the love of God. It should go on to say, “Except your own limited thinking.” You see, nothing can separate you from God’s great love! It’s time to receive that love, meditate on it and believe that He loves you!
Unfortunately, many people were not treated fairly growing up and were not loved as they should have been. We tend to judge God’s love by the standard in which we received love growing up. But I want to bring a fresh revelation that no matter how you were raised or how you were loved, God wants you to understand and receive His perfect love that He has for you and walk fully and freely in it. In His perfect love, there is no fear!
You know, sometimes I find myself struggling to be all I’m supposed to be. Oh, I want to do so much for God, and I want get rid of so much! I want to be this and I want to do that! But you know what? When you remember how much God loves you, that will move you from a place of struggling and working on yourself into a place of working with yourself, loving yourself. God wants you to receive His love, and in return, love yourself. The Bible says one of the greatest commands is to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Unless we can receive this love, God’s perfect love, we’re not going to be able to love ourselves and others the way we’re supposed to. If we don’t believe that God truly loves us, how can we give away something we don’t have?
Just like when Joel tells me he loves me and it gives me the confidence to be the best wife I can be in our relationship, let God’s love give you the confidence to be who He’s created you to be. You can walk in confidence knowing that the Creator of the universe if for you, has called you by name, and will never let you go. His love for you is an everlasting love. When you read or hear His Word telling you He loves you, don’t let it go in one ear and out the other. Let it drop straight into your heart and give you the confidence to live the life He has for you!
VICTORIA OSTEEN
A life-long Houstonian, Victoria began her career in her family’s business. Now as a supportive wife, mother of two children and a co-pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, TX, Victoria is an inspiration and mentor to women everywhere. She is committed to helping women, children and families discover their purpose and reach their highest potential in Christ.