Do you find yourself trying to grasp the infinite love of God? Can anyone truly comprehend His love for us? I really don’t think we can. We can accept that His love for us is far greater than we could fathom, but to truly understand His love is pretty hard to do. So, I’m sitting here wanting to write something different from what God has laid on my heart. Why? Because I will have to share a part of me that I like to keep tucked away. The part of me that doesn’t want others to know, because we are all supposed to be HAPPY all the time, especially if we are Christians. Right? At this moment I am happy and so full of joy that my heart feels like it could burst, but I need to be honest. You see, I feel like people believe that since we are Christians we put on a front or we should put on a front. I disagree with this, and feel we should be transparent. Others need to know that you hurt or you have been hurt. Why? In some weird way when you let others know you are hurting or have been hurt you feel better, but something else happens. The hurt you feel doesn’t seem to be as bad because you start to heal. So, I’m going to share with you and prayerfully you will get something from this.
If you look in Malachi the first chapter you will see that God is telling Israel that he has always loved them. “I have always loved you,’ says the Lord. But you retort, ‘Really? How have you loved us?” Malachi 1:2 When did you truly, and I mean deep down in your soul, know that God loves you? I can tell you that I have known that God loves me on a surface level for quite some time. I however, didn’t truly grasp how much on a soul level until here recently. I’m not sure when it happened, but it happened. I grew up knowing that I was loved but never really felt loved. I searched for that love and the love I was looking for couldn’t be found. Not because I wasn’t loved but because the love I desperately needed was the love that only God can give. I can tell you that I love deeper today than I did a year ago. That is because I feel God’s love and I understand how much he truly loves me. If you think of a child who knows they are loved, what do you see? Take a second and close your eyes and picture a happy child. I see bright eyes, a toothy smile from ear to ear and a sense of confidence. Now think of a child who doesn’t know they are loved. Go ahead, close your eyes again. I’m sure there is at least one child you can picture. I see sad eyes (when you get the chance to look into their eyes), a frown and a sense of I’m not worthy, with their head bowed down. There is a drastic difference in a child who knows and feels they are loved than one who doesn’t know and/or feel they are loved. In the book, “The Five Love Languages of Children” written by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell they compare a child to a flower. “When the water of love is given, your child will bloom and bless the world with beauty. Without that love, she will become a wilted flower, begging for water.” Campbell, Ross p. 27 I my friends, was the wilted flower begging for water. I finally found the endless supply of water and am no longer the wilted flower. It doesn’t matter that it took until I was grown to comprehend the love I needed could only be given from God. I’m so thankful for His love. “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34
I can’t tell you how many times I have been told, “I love you,” and all I could think was really? The same is true with God’s love, like the scripture quoted from Malachi; I kept thinking really, God loves me? It is important not only for our children but for others as well; Christians and non-Christians, that we show our love and not just tell of our love. “Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action.” 1 John 3:18 I can honestly say it’s not always easy for me to show my love. Mainly because I’m afraid of how it will be taken. I know in my heart, and only because I know how much I am loved by God, that I can show my love and not be afraid.
“If I speak human or angelic languages but do not have love,
I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith
so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.
And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
You may disagree with me on this next point, but I feel what 1 Corinthians is saying is until you have God, who is love, then you can’t truly love. You can be the nicest, sweetest, most generous person in this world but without God it means nothing. So today as I wind this up I pray the prayer from Ephesians: “I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17b-19 I once was broken, but I have been set free because God has always loved me. I am no longer the wilted flower, I am a child of God who knows she is loved and I am capable of loving others deeper than I’ve ever known because God lives in me. Until next time, May Yahweh bless you and protect you.” Numbers 6:24
*Bible verses taken from NLT and HCSB
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