Do you know how much God loves you?
By SHERYL H. BOLDT
Years ago, I cuddled my 1-year-old granddaughter. Looking into her sweet little face, I said, “Emma, do you know how much I love you?” Immediately, I sensed my heavenly Father asking me the same question.
“Sheryl, do you know how much I love you?”
I don’t remember if I stopped to ponder my heavenly Father’s grand question that day, but I’m positive I didn’t come near to understanding the extent of His love. What about you? Do you know how much God loves you?
If you’re like me, you’ve done some pretty terrible things. And because of our poor choices, our relationships have suffered. We feel insecure. There are times when we wonder why anyone would love us.
Especially God.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, especially this Christmas season, we could take God at His Word and believe, absolutely believe, that He loves us? Despite of all we’ve done?
How would this truth transform us? How would being secure in our heavenly Father’s love change the way we see ourselves in the mirror? How would our ambition and goals look when illuminated with perfect, unconditional love?
And how would it change our relationships? Would we begin to invest more time in others? Forgive easier and sooner? Would we finally be able to forgive ourselves? Believing God loves us – unconditionally – could change the way we celebrate Christmas. But how can we know, without a doubt, that the creator of the universe really does love us, rebelliously flawed as we are?
Listen to God’s own words: “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 ESV).
If this verse is too familiar, you may miss the beauty of its message. Take a moment and read it again, personalizing it and emphasizing each word: “But God clearly shows and proves His own love for me, (your name), by the fact that while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me (insert your name again!).”
Let me ask again (while also asking myself): Do we know, absolutely know, how much God loves us?
Let’s be clear: we will never fully comprehend how much our heavenly Father loves us. How could we ever grasp its vastness? Perhaps the more we think about this week’s verse and the more we speak it out loud in the first person, the more we’ll begin to understand…
… how much He truly does.
Sheryl H. Boldt is a sales executive for Wave 94 and author of the blog, TodayCanBeDifferent.net. Connect with her at SherylHBoldt.Wave94@gmail.com.