In his book He Loves Me, Wayne Jacobsen talks about the possibility of living our lives outside of the fullness of God’s love for us. He suggest that the reason we do so is that we are either unaware of the degree of God’s love for us or that we have failed to accept how much God loves us. Jacobsen refers to this as living lives less loved.
When we live our lives less loved, we believe that in order to be loved we must either earn that love, merit that love or be found worthy of that love. When we live our lives less loved, we are never completely certain of who we are or of why we are here. When we live our lives less loved, we deny ourselves the possibility of living abundant and eternal lives. When we live our lives less loved, we never seem to be able to rid ourselves of a haunting sense of anxiety, doubt and fear. And all of us at one time or another have found ourselves living our lives less loved because were not aware of just how much we are loved by God.
The real truth is that we are so very deeply loved by the God who is our Creator. We are so loved by this God that we cannot begin to imagine the depths of that love nor can be begin to understand the magnitude of that love. We all have had those moments when it appeared to us that God has either forgotten about us or that our circumstances or our situation has somehow completely escaped God’s notice. As a result, we begin to seriously wonder if God really cares for us the way we claim that He does. I have discovered however, that more often than not, what we may perceive as God’s lack of love for us is more just that: our perception in light of the existing circumstances.
The love of God for us is a free gift; a gift that is freely given that comes without conditions, without strings being attached, without attending requirements or stipulations. It is offered to us out of the profound and unlimited generosity of the God who is our God. That is what Jesus was implying when he declared, “Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom”. (Luke 12:32)
Simply put the love of God is freely offered to us and is ours simply to receive.
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