See the Great Love
I'm so grateful today that God loves us just the way we are. He doesn't wait until we're perfect to call us, until we get ourselves looking good enough, until we somehow measure up to what we think we should be in His sight. God calls each of us just the way we are right at this moment. He calls us from a place of unconditional love and commitment to us. We have to build our lives and live our lives on this foundation of God's unconditional love, approval, and forgiveness--all that God freely provided for us on the cross through Jesus Christ. He accepted us, He forgave us, and He approved us.
Unfortunately, sometimes we fall into the thinking that God loves us according to our performance. A while ago I was talking to a young man who had gone through a divorce and been separated from his children. He said, "I kept asking God, 'Why me? What have I done to deserve all these bad things?'" He viewed the difficulties of his life as a reflection of the way God loved him. He was saying, "God, when I do right, You love me. When I miss the mark, You get mad at me." But that is not true. Actually, that couldn't be further from the truth. The Scripture says God loves us unconditionally: "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1). If you're basing God's love on your actions, that's conditional. But God so loved the world that He gave His only Son for us...unconditionally. You can't work for God's love; you can only believe and receive it.
Somehow that message got through to him. He told me, "When I began to change my perspective and asked God to show me His love and teach me what He wanted me to learn from these situations, my whole life changed. I started seeing the goodness of God at work, and I got rid of the disappointments. God started bringing new things into my life, relationships and people."
The good news is, you can live in this freedom today. Freedom comes when you know that God loves you unconditionally...yes, just the way you are. You can get up in the morning and truly say, "God, I'm not going to condemn myself because I know that You're not condemning me. I believe that You love me with an everlasting love. I'm going to go out and be my very best today, honoring You, knowing that I'm not perfect, but You are." When you live your life like that, you'll be steady, you'll be strong, and you'll live an abundant, flourishing life.
Unfortunately, sometimes we fall into the thinking that God loves us according to our performance. A while ago I was talking to a young man who had gone through a divorce and been separated from his children. He said, "I kept asking God, 'Why me? What have I done to deserve all these bad things?'" He viewed the difficulties of his life as a reflection of the way God loved him. He was saying, "God, when I do right, You love me. When I miss the mark, You get mad at me." But that is not true. Actually, that couldn't be further from the truth. The Scripture says God loves us unconditionally: "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1). If you're basing God's love on your actions, that's conditional. But God so loved the world that He gave His only Son for us...unconditionally. You can't work for God's love; you can only believe and receive it.
Somehow that message got through to him. He told me, "When I began to change my perspective and asked God to show me His love and teach me what He wanted me to learn from these situations, my whole life changed. I started seeing the goodness of God at work, and I got rid of the disappointments. God started bringing new things into my life, relationships and people."
The good news is, you can live in this freedom today. Freedom comes when you know that God loves you unconditionally...yes, just the way you are. You can get up in the morning and truly say, "God, I'm not going to condemn myself because I know that You're not condemning me. I believe that You love me with an everlasting love. I'm going to go out and be my very best today, honoring You, knowing that I'm not perfect, but You are." When you live your life like that, you'll be steady, you'll be strong, and you'll live an abundant, flourishing life.