God's unconditional love

Let me share something with you that is so simple, but yet so profound.  And important.

God loves you, not because of anything you have done to earn that love, but because He (God) in total freedom (because He chooses to do so) has decided to love you (and me).

Incredible.

In other words, His love for us comes down to a decision that He makes.

It is a "once and for all decision" in that God will never love you and more or any less than he does right now, today.

His love for us is not based upon whether we have done "good" today or whether we have done "not so good."

We tend to look at live as "if you do good to me, I will do good to you," type thing.  "If you help me, I will help you."

"If you love me, I will love you."

As a result, it is ingrained within us (at any early age) that being loved is something you have to earn.  Everything has to be worked for, even a kind word, an expression of gratitude, a sign of affection.

That's why people crave attention.  That's why some have (what Joyce Meyer's calls) the approval addiction.  It is all rooted in the fear that, without the perfect approval of those around them, they are worthless.

Here's the result (and please note):  A state of mind that makes us live as though our worth as human beings depends upon the way others react to us or treat us.

We allow others to create and mold our own self-image.  That creates a lot of frustration and emptiness in our lives because most people will expect more from you than you can possibly give (especially those closest to us).

Some people are harder on others than God is.

I would suggest to you that my self-image (or how I look at myself) should not be based upon what others think about me but upon what God thinks about me.

And how much God loves me.  In spite of myself.

Just a thought for a Tuesday.