God Still Loves Me... He Loves You, Too.
Summer Neal
By: Kaitlyn Greenleaf
Edited by: Summer Neal
When you tell someone you love them, how much do they truly mean it?
How much weight does it hold? Does it have strings attached? Are there conditions they place on that love?
And vice versa, when someone says they love you, do they have strings attached?
Jesus has a love for us that surpasses all other loves. It goes above and beyond what we could fathom.
How is this?
Let’s begin by discussing who Jesus is and what He did for us.
Who is Jesus?
Jesus is our Lord and our Savior. He is the one, true, living God that manifested himself in the flesh to die on the cross for our sins. (John 10:30, Deuteronomy 6:4, John 3:16)
Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice; he bore our sins and died on the cross to wash us clean.
I remember growing up I was taught that God was real. I believed that he existed, but I never knew that I could have a lasting relationship with Him. I was taught that as long as I accepted Him as my Savior, declaring that He was real and could reign as the Lord over my life, then I was saved. Viola! Done deal.
I grew up basically thinking that no matter what I did in life, because I had expressed long ago that I believe God was real, I would be good to go. I would make it to heaven one day.
However, in my early twenties, things shifted for me. I was looking for something to fill a void in my life.
I was led to the place I now call home and to my church, Faith Tabernacle.
Nine years later, I have grown and have been transformed into a completely new person. How and why?
In my early twenties I had an amazing revelation… I could have a relationship with God. Like, actually talk to him on a daily basis just as I would have a conversation with any of you.
I could tell him about my day, pray for mine and others’ needs, etc. I discovered that He not only cared for me unconditionally, but He came down to earth and sacrificed Himself for me.
The idea that He wasn’t this mystical being that I can only read about, but He is living and present in my daily life, blew my mind!
He not only created me, but wanted to be with me, to walk hand in hand with me through my journey of life on earth.
I immediately wanted more. I knew that I had found what I’d been searching for, for what seemed like forever.
You see, God has this amazing unconditional love for us! He loves us through it all. He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6).
God’s love doesn’t have strings attached. There are no limitations. He just loves. Without hesitation.
In Luke 15, beginning at verse 11, there is the story of the prodigal son.
A man had two sons. The father divided all of his goods and living between his two sons. The youngest of the sons just blew through his inheritance. It says in verse 13 that he “took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.”
He left home and wasted it all away. Not long after he spent all his money, a famine came into the land. The younger son found himself in a position of want and need.
He had no more inheritance and no way of providing for himself.
He ended up working for a pig farmer, which in that time was considered to be a lowly occupation since pigs were deemed an unclean animal.
The prodigal son finally started coming to his senses and realized what all he had left and lost. Verse 17 – 18 says:
“And when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my fathers have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants”.
The prodigal son was prepared to face his father in a tremendously humbling and quite embarrassing way. He was ready to take ownership of his faults and mistakes and was ready to accept a punishment of being treated as once of his father’s servants instead of his son.
But something beautiful happens…
If you continue reading, the bible tells us as the son went to his father, the father ran to him with compassion and kissed him. His father told the servants to bring the finest robe, a ring, and shoes to put on his son. He wanted to have a feast to honor his son’s return.
In verse 24, the father says, “for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found”.
The father didn’t condemn his son when he returned home. He didn’t scowl at him or call him names. He didn’t raise his voice or give him the silent treatment. He didn’t start an argument or list out all the things his son had done wrong.
Instead, the father was 100% compassionate.
The father ran to him!
The father rejoiced that his child had finally returned home. He wanted to celebrate the long-awaited return of his son…
This story of the father’s love for his prodigal son is a parable for how God loves us.
“We are human! We will fall and make mistakes.”
As I said before, God truly has an unconditional love for us. We are his children. His kiddos! He is the father that we can run to no matter what. He accepts us with open arms. He is ready to forgive us. His love has no bounds.
But most of the time we get in our own way.
We are human! We will fall and make mistakes.
The bibles says that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
Sometimes, I think, we feel like we have messed up too much or what we’ve done is just too bad to forgive. Like we aren’t good enough to receive forgiveness.
Let me tell you, Jesus is ready and willing to forgive you if you will just ask.
He is a gentleman.
The bible says in Revelation 3:20 that God stands at the door and knocks,
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me”.
God isn’t going to just barge into your heart! He patiently waits outside the door for us to open it and invite him in.
We have free will. Even though he is all knowing and omnipresent, God will not force us to do anything. We have the choice to either follow Him or not.
Nine years ago, my life changed. Why? Because I found out that I could have a true, meaningful, lasting relationship with God. I realized that He is my ultimate father who loves me deeply and unconditionally.
No matter how dirty or unclean my past is, God still loves me.
No matter what sins I have committed, God still loves me.
No matter the situation or the circumstance that I am facing, God still loves me.
Because of this amazing love, God is constantly looking out for me. He has plans for my future! He wants me to prosper and not perish (Jeremiah 29:11).
Jesus is the one that I can ALWAYS count on to be there for me in the valley or the mountaintop. No matter the season, Jesus is in the midst of it with me.
And He can be that for you! The choice is yours. You get to choose!
I will say from experience, however, that my life living for the Lord is much greater than it was before I knew him. I have received far more blessings in my life living for God than not. I’m not referring to material blessings, even though those are nice, let’s be honest. But I’m talking about spiritual blessings, emotional and mental stability, physical healings, friendships, my family…. those are far more precious!
God has been so good to me! His blood redeemed me. His hands have healed me. He has made me new.