The Bible tells us that God loves us. It tells us the story of the Cross and all that Jesus went through to save us, because of His great love for us. For some people, it is easy for them to believe and accept the love of God. It is easy for them to believe that God wants to have a relationship with us, even when we have gone through hard things. It is easier for them to not blame God for what other people have done to them. They understand the concept that when God chastises them, He still loves them.
It has been hard for me not having the true love of earthly parents. My parents did not live for God, and they did things that damaged their children. They said they loved me and my siblings, but how did they expect us to be able to really believe we were loved, when they did such horrible things to us? When they corrected us or disciplined us, it wasn’t with love. This has made it hard for me to understand that when God chastises us, He still loves us. It made no sense to me. When he tells me things that are not pleasing to Him, I always felt that meant He no longer loved me.
When He put people in my life to love me, I could not believe it. I felt I was so unworthy to be loved that I could not even accept the love of God in my life. After being thrown away by those who were supposed to love and nurture me, it made me believe there was no value in me. I know there are many people just like me. When you try to tell them anything about God, they would just as soon spit in your face. Some people choose not to believe God loves them, but some people struggle to believe that God could love them. There is a difference.
God knows. He knows our very heart and thoughts. He knows the horrible things we have done, what was done to us, and He knows what we really think about Him. He knows if we really believe His Word or not. And as hard as this is to believe, He still loves us. He doesn’t stop. His love is beyond our puny understanding. It has taken me too long to believe that He loves me. The enemy, the devil never wanted me to get this. In spite of my sins, in spite of my unbelief and doubt, God loves me.
A few months ago, I wrote an article called “Does God Really Love Me?” At the time I wrote that, I was just beginning to get the revelation that God does love me. Recently God started showing me things about me that haven’t been pleasant to face. He wasn’t showing me to condemn me or throw me away. He wants me to face and acknowledge the truth and then grow and move on from there. He wants me to be aware of the truth and not pretend those things don’t exist. When we hide from the truth, we will never deal with it. We will stay the same and will never change. And we will not be able to grow in our relationship with Him, because sooner or later, that thing we refuse to deal with, will trip us up and could cause us to lose out with God altogether.
If we understand that if God is showing us something now, He is wanting us to change and deal with the issue. And if we don’t, we will be faced with it on judgment day when we stand before Him. So, as unpleasant and hard as it is to face it and deal with it now, it is better than waiting until later and be judged on it. Our relationship with God is an ongoing process. It never stops as long as we choose to allow it.
There are many things in my life that have come about because of the abuse in my life, but I still have to deal with them. Just because other people caused them, that doesn’t mean they are going to make things right for me. Life isn’t fair, but we get to choose how we want to live our life. We can become bitter and hardened, but we can also choose to allow God to love us, change us, deal with us, get in our face and tell us to stop being what we have become and to be who He meant for us to be. His love is real. And I want it. How about you?
A Father’s Love
