He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

As a child, I remember neighborhood girls taking wildflowers and picking off each petal while reciting, “He loves me, he loves me not.”  I assume they were hoping for a positive ending at the last petal.  That game reminds me of how many Christians never seem to settle the issue of God’s love for them.  They act somewhat like the girls in my neighborhood wondering if God “loves me or loves me not.”  So often those who claim a belief in God live with misconceptions about the love of God based not on who God reveals himself to be in the Bible, but on their own feelings.  The trouble with feelings is they change and are very inconsistent at times.  Thus, with every failure, they are picking “He loves me not.”  With every obedience, “He loves me.”

A search of God’s Word helps us realize that love is not a characteristic of God.  God is love (1 John 4:16).  His love characterizes itself in grace (his acceptance of us even in our sin), truth (his trustworthiness in his actions), and justice (his love brought forth by compassion, not retaliation).  Though he loves through a grace love at times and a justice love in other times, his nature is an everlasting love. Nothing we do will make him love us any more than he already does.  Those who are less sinful or more obedient aren’t loved any more than any other person in creation by God.

Therefore, the question is never “Does God love me?” Rather, “Do I accept the love of God?”

Come see us Sunday.  We will talk about that.
Pastor Jeff