Another look at God’s love

 

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. I John 3:1 (NKJV)

 

We often talk about how much we love God, and how far we can go to defend our love for Him, as well as defend our Christian faith, and this is a good thing in itself. However, we cannot afford to lose sight of the bigger picture – how much God loves us. The truth is that when you really come to know how much God loves you, your life will be changed forever. It will look too good to be true.

 

There are many verses in the Bible that tell us how much God loves us, and how He demonstrated and still demonstrates that love. Unfortunately, not many people truly believe that God loves them, and this is a foundational problem. In our text, the apostle tries to describe the manner of love that God has for us. From John’s gospel chapter 3, verse 16, we know that God went as far as giving up His dear son so that we can be adopted into His family. The question is why would God do that if He didn’t consider you and I to be valuable, and if He didn’t truly love us. God could not have paid such a huge price just for a show, and in any case, He wasn’t trying to please anyone.

 

Consider the apostle Paul’s reflection of the love that God has towards us in Rom.8:32 

 

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

 

This is very apt and powerful, and I cannot tell you how much I have been lifted by simply meditating on this scripture. When life tries to put you in a tight place, and the devil comes at you, bombarding your mind with all kinds of wicked thoughts, you can always fall back on the knowledge that God loves you and He will never forsake you. If He gave up His son for you, there can be nothing too big or too good for Him to give you, and there can be nothing too difficult for Him to do for you, because in giving up His son for you, He has already given you everything. It is this revelation of the love that God has for you that makes your prayer effective. When you pray with the consciousness of His love for you, your prayers will be more effective, and you will experience greater results. But when you pray with doubts in your heart concerning His love for you, your faith will be impotent because faith works through love.

 

The revelation that God loves you is the foundation upon which your consciousness of righteousness can be anchored. If this revelation is lacking in your life, the devil will flog you with an overwhelming sense of guilt and condemnation to the point that you will lose faith in your own faith, and surrender to his lies and deception.

 

In the story of the prodigal son as we often refer to it, the younger son that left home did not suddenly come to a realization of how much he loved his father and missed home, no, a thousand times no, he came to a sudden realization of how much his father loved him. Under his father’s love, even slaves were well taken care of. It was this realization that made him decide to return home to his father, even if it meant as a slave. But the story did not end there, even in his realization, he had not come to understand the father’s love by half, he wasn’t going to be accepted back as a servant, but as a son that he always was, oh what great love!

 

Folks, we cannot possibly exhaust the discussion on how much God loves us, and the extent to which He will go for us. But we can conclude by saying that the consciousness of God’s love will lift you to a whole new height in your walk with God. The revelation of this love will change how you see yourself; that you are prosperous, that you are well and whole, that you are favoured and eternally blessed, and that God would go to any length for your sake. Begin to take time out daily to meditate on this truth, worship Him from this consciousness and pray from this consciousness. I assure you under God, your life will take on a whole new meaning.

 

Shalom!