God loves you so much, no matter how holy you are, you cannot do anything to make him love you more. God loves you so much, no matter how vile you are, you cannot do to anything to make Him love you less. God is love. God loves us because it is His very nature. At the end of the day, it has nothing to do with your actions!
We allow ourselves to relate to God based upon our assumptions of how “good” we are. We believe that if we have done all the “right” things, we have earned enough points to cash them in and get an answer to a prayer or a ticket to heaven. If we have acted the opposite, selfish, ugly, or angry, we feel as if we do not have the right to ask God for anything. We can also compare ourselves to others when this is clearly not our measuring stick. We try to relate to God based upon our behavior.
The Bible tells us that we are to walk by the Spirit and not by our flesh. The flesh is defined by our five senses – sight, taste, hear, touch, and smell. When we base the love of God on how “righteous” we are compared to others, we grossly misunderstand the very nature of God. When we frame our behavior, whether good or bad upon our flesh, we limit Christ in us. If we reduce our gaze to our flesh only, we miss the most important element of relating to the Lord.
We relate to God by faith – without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). We walk by the Spirit and live out this journey through faith. We must realize that our Spirit is always perfect and loveable and always ready to communicate with God. This is because of what Jesus did on the cross – not our actions. The Bible tells us to acknowledge everything good in us. “That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ” (Philemon 1:6), contrary to what our flesh may be telling us.
Therefore, our days on this side of heaven are not about making our flesh better – it is about renewing our minds so we may understand God’s love and the treasure we possess within our Spirit. (Romans 12:2). When our minds are renewed, our actions will follow.
As believers, we should interpret our life through the lens of God’s Word, not our flesh and not our actions. We must believe what the Bible states over our circumstances. When we read about how much we are loved by God, and that He gave his only Son for us to have everlasting life, (John 3:16) we must allow ourselves to believe this awesome truth and relish in His love. We must realize that God loves us, not because we are lovely but because He is love!
Rhonda Smart, [email protected]
