And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ~1 John 4:16 (NIV)
Most people can believe God loves them if they think they deserve it. But problems arise when we don’t feel like we deserve God’s love and favor. The world says love me and I will love you back or “love me first”. God says, “I loved you first” and His love for us is perfect and unconditional. God is love and He tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:5 that He "keeps no record of wrongs.” (NIV) We might keep records of those who have wronged us, but God has said when He sees us, He doesn’t even see our faults and failures. He sees Jesus’s commitment and victory! When you fail and falter God keeps right on loving you because His love is not based on what you do or have done. He loved you before you did anything good or bad. He wants us to learn to love each other in that very same way. We all mess up; we all make mistakes and sometimes one right after the other. Have you ever found yourself on a mistake making roll? It seems like everything you do and every time you turn around you are messing up. You get harsh with the kids and that rolls into getting sideways with your neighbor and then frustrations of all those negative emotions just start snowballing! When that kind of day happens, God doesn’t want us to have a pity party because we haven’t gotten everything right. He doesn’t want us to wallow in our imperfection either. He wants us to trust Him to make up the difference between what we haven’t been and what we are called to be by trusting that He is transforming us into His image. We have to get back on our faith wagon and remember that we are recreated in Christ Jesus. We don’t have time to let the enemy cause us to drop our shield of faith, but if we do, praise God we have the helmet of salvation and remembering you have been transformed is what God wants you to start focusing on.
1 John 4:16 teaches us "we know and rely on the love God has for us.” (NIV) Do you know and rely on God's love for you? Sometimes we have to lean into that love and receive it even if we don't feel worthy. We have to trust that it is there, because He says it is and always will be. Sin separated you from God, but He loved you so much He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to give His life to ransom you so He could restore you to a right relationship and lavish His great love upon you. Believe that God loves you, despite how you feel. In His eyes you are amazing, and you are worth loving. God's love will change your life and enable you to love others with the love He gives to you. He wants you to know in your heart of hearts that you are perfect in His eyes. He wants you to believe that you have His unconditional love every minute of every day…believe it, receive it, and let it fill your soul so that you can love others with that same kind of love. Scripture teaches us in 1 John 4:21 “The commandment that God has given us is: “Love God and love each other!” (CEV) How you love others is a direct reflection of how much you know and rely on God’s love for you!
We love each other because He first loved us. ~1 John 4:19 (NIV)
Have you accepted Gods unconditional love for you today? How will you share it with others?
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