God's Love Changed Me
Lately, I've been contemplating God's love. I've been thinking a lot about how different my view of God has changed from the time I committed my life to Him until now. As a seventeen year old believer, I was aware that God loved me, but I never really knew the depth of His love. Of course, I knew that He loved me enough to save me, call me to Himself, and also to die for me, but I've realized that as I matured in my walk with Him, my perception of His love matured as well.
Walking through tough seasons in my life taught me to view God's love in a completely different way than I did before. For instance, there are times when I find myself in moments of deep, deep discouragement. In these moments, I know that I should be trusting God, but I often allow what I'm walking through to breed doubt and unbelief in my heart. Whenever I find myself in this space, I struggle with guilt because I know that I should have confidence in God. However, time and time again, I find that God never condemns me; He always comforts me and reminds me that He is with me. He always whispers words of love to me and shows me tangible signs that all is not lost. It always baffles me to the point where I find myself crying in gratitude and awe of who He is.
I grew up in a loving family, and I know that I am well loved by them; but, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I never really knew or understood true love until I met Jesus. His love is just different. It hits different. It feels different. Its nothing like the love we experience from our family, partners, friends, etc. He loves without condition. There's nothing we can do to prove that we are worthy of His love, and there's nothing that we can do to earn it. He just loves us. There are days when I sit in my room, look out the window at nature and feel His love. There are days when I'm laughing with my family and I feel His love. There are moments when I'm in such a dark place that I can't even pray, but I still feel His love. There are moments when I'm in pain, yet I still feel His love.
God loves you, and nothing can separate you from His love. Sometimes, that's all we need to hear in our darkest days, because, truthfully, it's easy to forget. When we're walking through tough times, its easy to forget that God loves us. When we've blackslidden and messed up, it's easy to believe that God has given up on us, but that's not the kind of Father that He is. Romans 8:38 (NLT) says, "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love." Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing. You are fully loved by Him and you always will be. I can say with all honesty that God's love changed me. Because He's shown me this love, I'm learning to truly love others, I'm learing to love myself, and I'm learning to love Him more and more each day.
I pray that everyday, you will get a glimpse of God's love for you. I pray that as you mature in your walk with Him, your perception of how much He loves you matures as well. I pray that His love changes you for the better. The best thing about my life is the privilege of being loved by God. Because of His love, I can smile through any season, no matter how challenging. Because of His love, I can walk in confidence, despite my insecurities. Because of His love, I have the courage to be who He has called me to be.
Because of His love, I am free.