I want to begin by making three (3) statements about God’s love:
God does not love us if we change.
God does not love us when we change.
God loves us so that we can change.
The longer I’ve lived and the more I've prayed the more I have learned to favor God’s judgement over anyone else’s. In fact I prefer God’s judgement over anyone else’s judgement. When I am condemned by others, I walk away feeling unforgiven, and that is a terrible feeling. When I sin against God I run to Him and ask for forgiveness and pray for grace to follow Him once again without sin. And I walk away forgiven, and that is a great feeling. But these experiences are remarkably different for me. No one has ever shown me love or generosity or receptivity like the Lord. And when I consider the people in my life who have influenced me the most — for Christ — they have possessed an uncommon love, an uncommon generosity, and an uncommon receptivity for me. Simply, they have resembled God more than others in my life.
But God has always loved me more than any person has ever loved me the most. All I can do is return to the Lord, broken and weak, and open my heart for another dosage of God’s love, you might say. In the presence of God and in the presence of those who know me, I will always be a sinner in need of forgiveness. On some level I will always be immature and quite inadequate. But my point here is not that I focus on my imperfections, but that I focus on the perfection of the gift of love that God gives me. I am overwhelmed by God’s willingness to offer me His love. When my children genuinely express their love for me, it is stunning. I am sure that God feels fabulous when I lift up my love to Him.
So remember this when you come to prayer today: God does not lead your heart by shaming you, just as a parent would never do so with a child. And yet we have all done this to our kids and friends. But God does not wish to shame us or make us feel guilty. Shame and guilt comes from our own broken hearts. Dear friends, God’s way works. On the deepest levels of our lives God wishes to tell us time and time again: I Love You! Let me change you for the best!
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
Forgive me…love me…and change me…in Jesus’ name, amen.
From the Bible:
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved” Ephesians 2:4-5.
“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” Luke 6:36.
“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you” Psalm 86:5.
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” Micah 6:8?
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