For me, it has been so easy to doubt God’s love. With all of the voices around me and the constant pressure from the world, holding on to God’s truth has been difficult.
Does God really love me? Shouldn’t I clean myself up first if God is going to love me? Why would God love someone like me? I don’t deserve to be loved. God could never use or love someone like me…
Probably most of you who are reading this have had similar thoughts.
Does God really love you just the way you are?
There are many people in the Bible who probably thought the same way that we do. We can think of Rahab, Simon Peter, and Saul (Paul). All of these people knew that they were wicked and sinful. They knew that they had done wrong in their past and probably wondered if God really loved them.
I want to tell you that God does love you just the way you are.
He loves you in whatever you are going through, however you are feeling, and no matter what you may have done. Nothing can separate you from God’s love.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)
God loves you no matter what, just the way you are.
But with that being said, we should not remain the way we are. We should not continue in our sinful ways and remain separate from what God wants for us. If He loves us, why shouldn’t we try to return His love and live fully for Him?
I love this quote from Max Lucado: “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus.”
Just because God loves you just the way you are doesn’t mean that you should stay that way.
God has chosen you and loves you dearly. But it hurts Him to see us continue in our sinful ways and never desire to follow Him. Even if you realize that God loves you just the way you are, it does no good if you are not willing to leave behind your own ways to love and follow Him.
In His amazing love,
Hannah Marie
Do you know that God loves you just the way you are? How can you grow in the love of God?
Amen! This is beautiful 🙂
Thank you!