When I became a mother, I experienced the most powerful love I have ever felt for another human being. I was reminded of this recently at the birth of my second granddaughter. As soon as I saw her precious face, I was overwhelmed with an incredible love for this sweet baby I had only known for mere minutes. There’s something about being a grandparent that seems to multiply the love. I know I loved my own children just as much, but the love for a grandchild is just so special. I’ve heard it explained that the reason we feel what seems like an extra measure of love for our grandchildren is because we are seeing our own children in them.
I think we can draw a comparison from this human experience to that of our Heavenly Father. We read in Genesis 1:27, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” When God looks at us, He sees His own image reflected back to Him. Not only that, when He looks at His children, He sees Jesus' righteousness, for we are clothed in white through the blood of the Lamb. It’s so interesting how our children and our grandchildren reflect the DNA that makes them look like us or our children. Just like God cannot hate Himself, we as parents love our children unconditionally with this built-in reflection that bonds us to them like no other relationship.
The Lord gives us human experiences to better understand His love for us. We love imperfectly, but God loves perfectly. Some of us may have had a bad experience with our earthly parents that clouds our understanding of our Heavenly Father’s love for us. Others of us who have had primarily good experiences with our mothers and fathers find it easier to draw parallels to the love of the Father.
Whether a good or bad foundation with our parents, I think we all, at some point or another, have had trouble accepting God’s love. We feel as though He is mad at us or that we are not worthy of His love.
“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” 1 John 4:15-18
Let's take a look at the above passage to find encouragement for those days when we have trouble accepting God’s love:
As believers, we have received the Holy Spirit whose still, small voice directs us in the way we should go. However, there are times when sin’s voice is louder. We either drown out or ignore the gentle promptings of the Holy Spirit to walk away from sin. Because we are children of God, conviction will set in, and we will feel guilt over our transgression. The rub is how we respond to that “guilt.” Do we want to run and hide from God or do we want to draw close to God?
Did you know that the name Satan means “accuser”? When we are accused of something, if we are indeed guilty, we may want to hide from that accusation. Guilt that elicits this type of response is more than likely coming from Satan. He wants to draw a wedge between us and God. However, when we feel conviction over something, it is coming from a place within. In our case, the Holy Spirit is prompting us and directing us back to God.
I remember when my children were small, there were days when one of them exasperated me to the end of my rope. Even after such a day, when I would go in to check on them after they fell asleep, I’d see their sweet sleeping faces and be filled with such love for them that all the frustration of the day would just melt away. And this is coming from an imperfect mother! How much more does God love us when we mess up big?! He will not hold our sins against us. “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). Instead, He convicts us to draw us back to Himself. God is not pushing us away; He is pulling us into His loving embrace.
The next time you feel as though God is mad at you and you are having trouble accepting His love, put into perspective where that thought is coming from, take it captive to the obedience of Christ, and return to the love of the Father you never need to fear.
Do you ever hold back on what you pray for because you feel like you don’t deserve it? Or do you pray for something and because of your life experience, you assume the answer will be no? That’s a slippery slope of negative thinking… "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). Do you see that? “He rewards those who seek Him,” but we must hold fast to that belief and not allow circumstances to corrupt what we know to be Truth.
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16
We should never allow the thought that we don't deserve our prayers to be answered to enter our minds. Jesus knows and understands our weaknesses and will reward our confidence in Him with answered prayer.
“Perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18b). From this recovering “worry wart,” I can tell you this verse convicts me! Maybe some of you can relate. When we find ourselves worrying about our circumstances, we are not trusting God’s love for us. He is sovereign over all of our circumstances, even the difficult ones. He has a perfect plan for us, and He will use those situations in our lives that cause heartache, frustration, and even fear to show us His perfect love.
The key is to not fear His will. God’s will for us may sometimes feel like punishment, but then He eventually reveals to us how He was actually rescuing us and redirecting us to something better. "For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives" (Hebrews 12:6). Again, we need to reframe our thinking. God’s discipline comes from a place of love. Whereas the word "punishment" has a much more punitive feel to it. God is not “inflicting” punishment upon us, He is allowing His discipline to mold us into Christ-like behavior.
We must remember that even in scary situations, God loves us with an everlasting love. He is not going to forget about us. We are always on His radar and He always has His covering of protection over us. Jesus died so that we not only could bring Him glory here on earth but so that we could one day live with Him in heaven. But God isn’t waiting until then to be with you. He is with you every second of every day. If God were a harsh father to His beloved children, He would be a hypocrite. Instead, He loves us perfectly and through Jesus' death has perfected us.
Let us take heed and stop being afraid so that we can be perfected in God’s love.
The whole message of the Bible is God’s love for us. If this is the central theme of the Word of God, and we believe the Bible to be true, we must accept that truth in our own lives walk with full confidence in the love God has for us, and allow God’s love to cast out fear.
May we all accept the amazing love of the Father, knowing that He sent His Son to die for us; He hears our prayers and answers them; and we never need to fear God.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Nata Bene
Karen Del Tatto is a blogger, author, women's ministry leader, pastor's wife, mom, and grandmother who is passionate about the Word of God. Her blog Growing Together in Grace and Knowledge and her books Choosing to Trust God: Breaking the Habit of Worry, A 30-Day Devotional and Choosing to Trust God Companion Journal reveal her heart for providing Biblical insights to encourage women to grow in and through their struggles while equipping them to overcome. Karen and her husband live in Rhode Island and enjoy walks in the woods, owling, and spending time with their grandchildren.