“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NIV)
The familiarity of this verse and the frequency in which we’ve heard it almost causes the truth of it to pass right over us. The implication is clear and, yet, do I really grasp the power behind this passage?
Many years ago a friend told me during a difficult time in my life, “God loves you so much.” I wondered—does He really? Her statement made a lasting impression on me. I went back to it many times and found comfort in that maybe, just maybe God does love me. The above verse certainly says it’s so. But, comprehension of this wonderful promise may take a long time and can be challenging.
This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us . .” (I John 3:16, The Message)
God has been tenderly, persistently reminding me that He loves me just for who I am. And, that He cannot possibly love me any more or any less no matter what I do or say or what has transpired in my past or will happen in the future. Period. He loves us unconditionally. This can be new territory for some of us because the world is very good at putting stipulations on love.
I have still struggled with thinking that if I messed up, even one time, God would leave me and/or stop loving me. That’s just not true, because it’s not in His character. And, we can have the assurance of that from His word.
“. . . because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5, NIV)
So, in this new year, one of my resolutions is to be mindful every day, throughout the day, that God loves me. He loves me more than I can even hope to comprehend in the feebleness of my human brain. My part is to accept His love for me and to put my trust in Him. One of my favorite verses on this subject is Ephesians 3:14-19:
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” (NAS)
Isn’t it awesome to know that the Maker of the Universe and of everything in it, loves us so completely that He would die for us? Read John 3:16 above over and over until the assurance of God’s love gets stuck in your heart.
©2014 Tammy Maseberg All Rights Reserved
