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Presented by Julie Busteed
How do you introduce yourself? What’s the first thing you tell others about yourself when meeting someone new?
The Apostle John writes:
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him (1 John 3:1).
I’m in awe that the Father has lavished his great love on me. God almighty is extravagantly generous with his great love toward his children. It is his heart.
To know your identity is a child of God and that he loves you, should give you such peace and rest and confidence and security.
But, what if you’re not “feeling” loved right now. How do you continue to rest and walk in God’s love? Let’s look at how the Bible defines love. The Apostle John continues:
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16).
And Paul in Romans tells us:
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
Not only does God lavish his love on us, but he’s the one who sent his son to die for us to save us and to reconcile us to himself. We don’t have to earn his love. It is a free gift.
If you’re in a hard place right now—uncertain about the future of your job, in a difficult season in a relationship, or struggling with your health—it can be difficult to feel like God is with you and loves you. But you especially need to preach this truth to yourself during these times. Keep reminding yourself he does love you. Your feelings are not always to be relied on! When you consistently read God’s word, meditate on it in your heart and mind, study, and even memorize it, you will be able to recall his truth when you are in a difficult place.
My prayer for us echoes Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians:
I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:17-19).