Ladies, in this blog series exploring our true identity, be reminded of this truth: YOU are unconditionally, unceasingly, fully loved by God right now and forever!
To begin to walk in the assurance of this amazing gift, you have to choose to accept His love. Stop fighting God on His love song to you. If you’ve had few people love you well, getting there might be hard. If your relationship with your own dad is difficult, for example, it might be über hard for you to accept that God’s love is unconditional. You might truly struggle with accepting His affection.
But no matter what, God’s love is stuck to us like Super Glue. We have this promise in Romans 8: NOTHING can separate us from God’s love for us. Not the present, not the past, not the future. Not what we said, or what we don’t say. Not what we did, or what we don’t do. God’s love is like Velcro. Get used to the idea: You are fully loved. Lean gratefully into this truth!
In remembering Christ on the cross, pastor Tim Keller says:
“If He wouldn’t abandon you when hell itself was coming down on Him, and if that didn’t separate His love from us, you think your having a bad week is going to do it? If someone’s going to spend a billion dollars on your present, do you think he’s going to skimp on the wrapping paper? This is the love you’ve been looking for all your life.“
We Are Fully Loved!
My favorite Bible verse that talks about the depth of God’s love is in Psalm 103: “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him.” “You choose me?” I respond to God in amazement. “You know all about me, my weaknesses, my faithlessness, my selfishness, and you still love me as I am? Wow!”
Too many of us are trying to earn God’s love. We think, “I need to straighten out my life before You can accept me as I am.” But this thinking is NOT biblical. As the apostle Paul wrote, “It is by grace that you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Gals, our “do” is not our “who.” Just look at the example of the thief on the cross next to Jesus.
Jesus didn’t tell the man, “Sorry, dude, you had your chance and screwed up. I don’t accept you.” How did Jesus respond to the thief? He fully embraced him, promising him that they would be together in heaven! The repentant sinner could do nothing at that point to improve his chances of being found “good enough” — but he was!
So how about you and I believe that God’s promise of unconditional love is reliable? As author Priscilla Shirer says, God accepts us, and patiently works in us for us to become women who look more like Him. We only get there by believing in the vision He holds for us: fully loved and accepted right where we are right now. God is our biggest fan and cheerleader.
As our loving creator, God says two things to us: “You are my child. I have chosen you.” Can you wrap you mind around the truth that God had you on His mind before you were even born? Let that truth sink into the depth of your heart and noggin’.
It may take a lot of determination on your part, based on what has happened to you in life at the hands of other people. But as you begin to accept just how fully loved you are in God’s eyes, you WILL be able to break through the fear and doubt that keep you from accepting His pure love.
Gals, we must get there and here’s why: it is ONLY when we accept that we are fully loved that we can then love others well. We don’t want to miss out on that!
This blog series is based on Josh McDowell’s book See Yourself as God Sees You. It is our prayer that during this series you come to recognize and accept your true personal identity! God couldn’t love you more!
