It's Love

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God ; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  1 John 4: 7-8

By the time I finally graduated from Auburn University, I struggled with accepting the fact that God actually loved me.  I had done everything I could to run as far away from Him as possible and lived to tell about it.  The constant partying, the unabashed selfishness, the self-inflicted anger, hurt, guilt, and pain left me feeling like God couldn't possibly love me in the 'broken' state that I was in.

The more I read the Bible, the more it became clearly apparent that God loved me; He always has and always will.  I began to notice this beautiful world that we live in and understand that He created each of us with a need for His love.  There is nothing we can possibly substitute for our basic need to have God’s never-ending and perfect love.

There are times you may feel unworthy of His love just like I once did.  The truth of the matter is that no one is worthy of God’s love.

The good news is that His love is not based on whether we are deserving or not, He loves us unconditionally, and it’s hard to fathom from our limited perspective.

Could You Be Loved?

That the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  John 17:23

I had a meeting with a potential client this last week and felt that I showed poorly.  It was a difficult task, as I went into the meeting with only a small amount of information and still had many more questions that I needed to answer before I could possibly provide firm insurance rates for this organization's group benefit program.  Leaving the meeting I felt like a failure, despite my manager telling me that I did an outstanding job.  Have you ever felt that way?  How do we know we are valuable? 

The answer is found at the cross.  Our youngest son was playing with the cross that I wear on my neck and it got me thinking about the reality of what Jesus' death by crucifixion really means.  If we weren't valuable to God, He wouldn't have sent His beloved Son to die on the cross to save us from certain death. 

If you are ever feeling down or unloved or that you are not valuable, look no further than the cross and understand that you are worthy and loved!