“We have . . believed the love that God has for us.” 1 John 4:16 NKJV
“The right kind of love could change your life forever. God knows just how to do that.”
My thoughts today are about “loves me, loves me not.”
You know the familiar picture of a quizzical young lady holding a daisy, and as she pulls a petal off she says, “loves me,” then pulls another and says, “loves me not” until the last petal drops to the ground. It suggests a random number of petals can reveal whether one is loved or not. It might seem good sometimes if that worked.
Love can feel that uncertain for some, and that does not feel good at all. I guess the kind of love some people have experienced in their lives leaves them confused and doubting. Such experiences leave them unsure of love, or maybe uncertain of love altogether.
If you assume God’s love is like the inadequate earthly love you have experienced, then you will be as unsure about His, as you might be of others. You cannot measure God – no facet of His character or conduct – by putting Him alongside people you know. It seems that some often credit God with only being much like His sin-afflicted creation, but He is completely unlike us, even at our best. He is holy and righteous and just.
An imperfect person’s love is not the standard by which God’s love can be compared or measured. God is the standard by which each person is measured; His love is the standard by which all others’ love falls short.
Here is God’s highest desire for you, “May you have the power to understand how wide, how long, and how deep His love really is. And may you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Read Ephesians 3:17-19 NLT. Notice my emphasis. When you understand AND experience God’s love, it will color your whole experience in the most practical ways, “with the fullness of life and power!”
Isn’t that the kind of love you have been looking for? You don’t need flower petals to settle any guessing game about God’s love. You need to believe God’s Word, and to “believe the love He has for you!” 1 John 4:16 NKJV. The right kind of love can change your life forever. And God knows just how to do that.
So what is God’s love like? The Bible describes His love this way, “patient and kind . . not jealous or boastful or proud . . does not demand its own way, is not irritable . . keeps no record of when it has been wronged . . never glad about injustice . . love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. (God’s) love will last forever.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NLT.
Read those characteristics again, slowly. Recognize all of those attributes of love in yourself or any person you know? Then understand that could be talking about God’s love alone – the love He has for you..
My prayer for you today is that you will be fully persuaded of the love God has for you.