THE LOVE OF GOD
Do you believe God loves you unconditionally? Most people believe that God loves them only when they do good, but when they do what is not right before God, they feel that God no longer loves them, and if He still loves them, the love is not as strong as when they do good. Sometime we live everyday wondering if truly God will love us today, and we are so keen to do what seems right, so that we may earn more of His Love. Our lives are filled with self-righteousness instead of self-surrender to His Love. We strive so much to please Him. Some have gone into an extend of thinking God will always punish them because they fail to do what is right, and so they think the tough situation, sickness, struggles and pain are as a result of failing to please Him. It feels so sad, if we view God in such a manner. This is the reason we cant trust that God can Love us so unconditionally, we think His love can be bought by our good deeds.
I am a victim of self-righteousness. When i was a new believer, I was so passionate about God. I Loved Him so much, that i didn't what to do anything wrong.This was mainly because I thought that He would withdraw His Favor from me. I strived to please Him. At times, I couldn't even step on a cockroach, because i feared maybe that it would make Him sad!. I was so opt to do what is right. I would spend hours praying, because I thought if i didn't He wouldn't bless me..I enjoyed prayer time.
Albeit it got to a point where i was tired to striving to do things by my effort in order to earn His love. I was tired of prayer as a duty but want sure if i stopped praying he still would love me. Many people around me thought i loved to pray. little did they know that i was under my self imposed obligation to do it. At some point i got tired with christian life though i keep trying to do what seemed right, so i could please God anyway. This went on until the time God in His mercies taught me of His love.I rested from my labors of trying to earn His love.
It has been a journey of understanding the Love of God.
We know from the scripture that
God is Love,
1 John 4:8,16
[8]But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
[16]We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
God is Love and Love is God, we cant separate the two. Love is a person, is not just feelings. If you wait to feel the love of God you will never feel it. I know that the Spirit of God can reveal God's love in a tangible way, and make it so real to your emotions, indeed it is real. You cant know His Love when you based it with emotions. As i have stated earlier that Love is a person. You experience Him to know Him. Have you ever loved a person? All you want is to talk to him them and spend time with them, and the more you know them and spend time with him, the more your love grows deeper for him. In this case, the more you spend time with God, the more you get to understand how much He loves you.
Let me slow down here, and make us understand from scriptures God loved us before we could think of Him.
Ephesians 1:4
[4]Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
In English we understand that the word 'Loved' is past tense.In this context therefore, it means that God already loved us even before we existed, and in that case even before he made the world.
John 3:16
[16]“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
For God loved us that He gave. We are the world he is talking about in this verse. There was nothing pleasing with us, we were lost ,people without hope. Yet at such a point where all we could do was evil and sin, he still loved us,(
Eph 2.4-5).
How much more do you think He loves us now, since we are His sons? For He loved us when couldn't be loved, when we didn't do anything pleasing to Him. We belonged to the kingdom of darkness and that because of this the scripture says that, He has translated us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His dear son. For God who was and is Love, loved sinful and hopeless people. Wow that is crazy love! I urge us to stop thinking that we can earn His love now, we cannot. This because we didn't even earn it at first!
In all this we must know there was a price that was paid, a price that pleased God. A price that made us experience His Love.
We could never and u'll never understand how much He loves you, if you nature is not changed, and that is to believe in Jesus. U'll still struggle to believe in His love. I know even now most of us believer struggle to believe that He fully loves us.
Romans 5:5
[5]And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
He filled us with Himself, with Love, through the HolySpirit. So now we can identify with Him, we can experience Him in our lives because He has poured our His Love in our hearts.
The cross is the demonstration of God's love (
Ephesians 5.8, 1 John 3.16). Love came to rescue us, from bondage of fear. From the old testament we could see how God dealt with the Israelite, how He punished them, how the law was tough and His commands were hard to keep. We have that view of God even today, that He is a 'tough' God. Indeed as He said, He is the same today, tomorrow and forever. He has never changed, and even in those days still He was God who is Love. His anger and judgement were demonstration of His Love. He loved the Israelite so much, as it is evident when He rescued them from the harsh labor into rest. In Hebrew it says that, God disciplines His children because He love them, and they are legitimate sons.
We grew misunderstanding His Love, and we feared God, coz He was so 'tough'. We thank God, Christ came and satisfied the anger of God, He took all our punishment and made Him sin. The wrath of God was rested on Him. So that we may experience His Love and freedom. We can now approach Him with confidence,(
Hebrews 4.16).
For He has not given us the Spirit of fear but of power, love and sound mind (
2 Timothy 1.7)
My childhood life was not filled with love, i always saw on TV, where the parent could treat their children with a lot of affection, how they will read story books before the children sleep. They could lavish a lot of kisses to the kids, telling them how much they are loved. I lacked that, my parent were good, but the African culture in them, they couldn't do that to us. Losing my parent at a tender age was a emotional blow for me. I seeked to be loved, i became so lonely and independent. I desired someone to just come and tell me how much they love me, but i lacked it. I cant describe how i felt, when i was a teenager and a certain boy came and said to me that, am beautiful and he loves me. I had sleepless night thinking how can he say that he loves me. I was excited, but at the same time i doubted if anyone could love me. I didn't experience love anywhere. I lived with low self-esteem, i couldn't even look at myself on the mirror. That is how broken i was as i grew up.
I receive Jesus Christ as my Lord, when i was 14 years back in 2011, a form 1 student. Wow at least i found a friend, but still i was not free from self-righteousness, i didn't know that He loves me always. It was when i joined campus and now God was teaching me about His Love. It was a transformation in my soul, i was free. I stop to seek love from people, for i found Love Himself. I became so free from myself and people, that i didn't mind if they love me or not. I was wrecked by His Divine Love. It was not a one day experience, but days of spending time with Him and allowing Him to love me. Sometime we fail to experience His Love, because we do not allow ourselves to be Loved. That is pride, surrender and rest in His Love.
Let go off you fears and experience His Love. Begin to seek His love from the scripture, have knowledge of His Love.
Ephesians 3:17
[17]Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
Its only His love that will keep you strong, as you continue to trust in Him, and get rooted in Christ.
You will never get real Love apart from God. You parent, your spouse, your children name them, will never love you as much as God does. People always desire something back, they do not love you for free. They seek also to be loved, but God loves you for who you are. Jesus our High priest, understand our weaknesses, coz He was tested in every way that He may help us in our weaknesses.
I believe all that people desire is to hear of His Love. Drug addicts, prostitutes, murders, sinner all are craving for love, they want acceptance and no one can truly deliver them apart from the Love of God. Even believers live everyday with condemnation and guilt of they past failures, but its only the Love of God that can sustain a christian in his daily life.
we have many struggles we fall time and time again. We feel like giving up, things can be tough and rough.
Personally i have weaknesses and struggles, some i fear even to tell anyone, coz you do not know what they might think of you, they are quick to respond and judge, but when i remember of His love my fears fades, coz i am accepted and Loved. Its only His love that can set you free from any kind of struggle. Love is freedom.
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| LOVE IS GOD |
Romans 8:38
[38]And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
Indeed nothing can separate you from His, love.
As i conclude for this week my prayer is that we will desire to soaked by His Love. We cant fully know His love, coz it is so wide Ephesians 3.18-19. We cant fully comprehend it, but we can experience it in a new dimension everyday. No one can truly make you understand how much God loves you. He is the only one Who can reveal His Love for you through the Holy spirit.
Power points
- God is Love, and Love is God
- God loves you unconditionally
- He loves you when you were yet a sinner
- His Love is able to free you from your struggles
- Allow Him to Love you
- Nothing can separate you from His Love
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for loving us unconditionally. We now understand that we cant do anything to earn your love. For you loved us freely through Jesus. Thank you for you are Love and you have lavished love in our heart. Help us to always experience your love,and accept to be Loved by you. Thank you God.Amen
NB. Any que,correction or comments are allowed.