Sometimes it’s the simplest things in life that help us to be reminded of God’s love. But, that’s just how God works, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27 NIV)

“God made me this!”

My two year old proudly pointed to the crown on her head and flung those words at me as she climbed to sit beside me on the couch.

“He did?” was my reply with a smile.

“Yes, and God made me and God loves me. And He gave me a good day.”

 “Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so.” She started to sing and skipped away!

She left me, mouth opened, and in awe of her confidence in how much God loves her.

The Bible does tell us so. The Bible reminds us out right over 40 times that God loves us and more than that if you just look at His actions. Not only that but we are also told that love actually defines who God is and that noting can separate us from His love!

Why We Wonder if God Truly Loves Us

So, with the overwhelming evidence of being reminded of God’s love for us, why do we wrestle so often with just accepting it and proudly proclaiming it like my two year old?

1. We are reducing God’s love to human feelings. According to our modern English, we can “love our children” and “love our new nail polish”. We can “fall in love” and “fall out of love”.

So much of the “love” we get from others is based on what we do for them or how they feel that day. Many times, we mess up or don’t feel close to God and assume He doesn’t love us the same or stopped loving us. Can I remind us of the above scriptures here, “nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God. ” NOTHING!!

2. We’ve been taught some bad theology. Some times our view of God’s love has been shaped by what we’ve learned from others. I talk to women often who believe that God will love them more if they just do more.

• “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) See God loved us “while we were still sinners”.

• “We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) loved us before we said Christ is the only way to salvation, before we did good deeds in His name, and before we ever thought about loving Him. 

Replacing the Lie With Truth

Figuring the reason is only half the battle. Because, once we have pinpointed the lie that we are believing, we have to replace it with those truths from scripture. We need to read His word often to be reminded of God’s love to us and cares for us.

• He created us in our mother’s womb.
  • For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13

• He made us with purpose.
  • “He has saved us and called us to a holy life–not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” 2 Timothy 1:9

• He wants a relationship with us.
  • “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1

• He loved us so much, He gave His life for ours.
  • “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Live Like We Believe It

Finally, it doesn’t do any good to be reminded of God’s love if we don’t live like we believe it! The overwhelming truth is that God does love us and He expects us to live like it. This means a few things:

• We accept His grace.
  • “But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.” 2 Corinthians 8:7

• We live abundant, joyful lives.
  • “But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You.” Psalm 5:11

• We keep His commands.
  • “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15

• We spread His love to others.
  • “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13

Truth Over Emotion

I just want to leave us with one last thought, and that is this: Faith is not an emotion. It is a choice to stand strong on God’s word as truth even when we are having a hard time believing it.

Somedays, I feel like a bad mom. Somedays, I feel like my kids are out to get me. Neither of those things are true and on a good day, I realize that. And, in the other times, my husband’s affirmations and my kids actions show me reality.

The fact is that we sometimes don’t feel like God loves us either. Sometimes we feel like He has forgotten us or that He is out to get us. But, feelings are not reality. The Bible tells us that God never changes and that His love is unfailing. We can stand on His promises because He is not “a man that He should lie.” (Numbers 23:19)

Let’s make the choice to stand on the promises of the Word of God. Let’s stand on the truth that God is Love. God loves us. Nothing can separate us from His love. His love was so amazing that He send Jesus to die so we could be saved. Dwell on that and believe it, live it, and walk in the truth of it!