An amazing aspect of God’s love is that He loves us just as we are. The Bible tells us that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”. That love is not a poetic notion. It is not just a happy thought. It is the tangible power of God’s compassion released into human lives.
And God’s love for the world is not based on how lovely and endearing the world is to God. God loves people despite the fact that they are covered in sin and shame.
So this lesson takes you into a deeper appreciation of that great love which God has toward you.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;)” Ephesians 2:4,5
Just as I Am
An important step in my revelation of God’s love was to realise that God loves me even though He knows all my sins, weaknesses, vulnerabilities, fears, shame, ignorance, foolishness and so on.
God loves me just the way I really am. He is not fooled by my empty promises. He is not bribed by my negotiations. He is 100% aware of all of my terrible failings. Yet God loves me anyway! Wow!!!
I don’t have to wait until I am good enough for God, for I never will be. I don’t have to make amends for my past before I can come to God. I will never be able to do that.
The only thing I can do is drag the carcase of my stinking self into His presence, with all of my failure and shame naked to His all-seeing gaze. I can make no appeal. I can make no bargain. I am undone. I am spent. I am incapable of impressing Him for a moment.
Yet, as I come to Him, just as I really am, He pours His love on me! That is just SO amazing! And it is SO liberating!
God Loves the Real You
I was so blessed to realise that God actually loved the “real” me. God was not impressed by the image I had created and maintained. He was not attracted to my reputation or the impressions other people had of me. God loved the real, miserable, fearful and insecure me that was hidden behind my mask of popularity and success.
The image I use of this shows God’s love directed down upon the real, hidden person, behind the inflated image that other people see.
God’s love is directed to the “real” you. That miserable, fearful person is the object of God’s love. That is the Real You and that is the “you” that God loves and sent Jesus to die for. God wants the Real You to receive His love and salvation. He wants the Real You to be released into all that He has prepared for you.
Act of the Will
In my journey through all of this I discovered that love is an “act of the will”. That is why God can command us to love Him and to love our neighbour.
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is similar, namely this, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30,31
The revelation that love is an act of the will brought to me a new sense of confidence in God’s love for me and you.
Do you know why God loves you? God loves you because He chooses to love you! It’s an act of God’s will. And so there are no strings attached. God’s love is unconditional. God loves you as an act of His will and He will never change His mind!
Unconditional Love
Because God’s love for you is a matter of His choice to love you, then it is unconditional. It is not based on your age, or your potential. It is not based on your good looks, career path, willingness to serve God, or anything else you can do.
Unconditional love is something you can’t break. If God loved you because you pleased Him, then as soon as you stopped pleasing Him He could stop loving you. But, because there are no conditions, there is nothing you can do to make God stop loving you.
That’s why God describes His love as an “everlasting love”.
“The LORD appeared to me of old, saying, Yea, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3
God Loves YOU
Let me explain it straight for you. God loves you, just the way you REALLY are, failures and all. And God loves you, just he way your really are, because He has chosen to love you. There is nothing you can do that will stop God from loving you. You cannot even FAIL your way out of God’s love!
If you were to become the greatest enemy of God and lead thousands away from faith in God, God will still not stop loving you. If you were to step out for God and then make such as mess of things that God is mocked because of your failure, God will still not stop loving you.
Let me say it again, You cannot even FAIL your way out of God’s love!
Perfect Love Sets You Free
That kind of perfect love casts out fear. It sets people free. And it set me free from my fear, insecurity, shame, inferiority and rejection. I did not have to prove a thing. The opinions and criticisms from people counted for nothing against such overwhelming love.
That’s the love you need to receive. You need to be drenched in that love and soak in it for days. You need it to permeate your mind, emotions, personality, will, spirit, soul and body. Don’t just give God’s love a kindly assent, but press in for it, cry out for it, and make sure you experience it. It truly will set you free!
Let Me Pray For You
I want to pray again that God reveal His love to you.
“Lord, I ask You to reveal Your overwhelming love into the hearts of each person reading this. Let the love of God be shed abroad in each heart, by the Holy Spirit, so that every one of them is set free and transformed to be the people You created them to be. So reveal Your love that it dislodges all the wrong thoughts in their head and heart. Heal them with You love. Impact them with Your love. Transform them with Your love. I ask this in Jesus’ lovely and precious name. Amen.”