How can I more fully accept God’s love for me? - Love - TouchPoints

John 13:8“No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”

Revelation 3:16-19“Since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.”

We begin to accept God’s love when we put aside our pride and self-sufficiency.

1 Corinthians 13:1If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

Philippians 3:4-9I [the apostle Paul] could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. . . . I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

When we stop trying to impress God with our accomplishments, we are able to trust and enjoy his gracious gifts of love and forgiveness. God embraces us not for how much we have done, but for who we are as his children.

Luke 18:15-17Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

Ephesians 2:8-9God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Jesus encourages us to learn to receive his love with the same trusting spirit as a little child. Receiving God’s love is an act of simple faith. We don’t have to work to gain God’s love.

Psalm 66:18If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Ezekiel 18:23“Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live.”

Matthew 12:31“Every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven.”

Luke 15:21-24“His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.”

Romans 5:8God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Romans 8:38-39I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

James 4:3Even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

Our sin damages our relationship with God. Like the prodigal son, our sins lead us far from our heavenly Father and his presence; yet he never stops loving us. David was a murderer and adulterer. Peter was disloyal. Paul persecuted Christians. John Mark deserted the mission field. Nothing we have done is ever so terrible that we cannot be welcomed back into our Father’s loving arms. The only sin that is unforgivable is the sin of forever rejecting that love—of forever refusing the Holy Spirit’s call. If people choose life apart from him, God respects that free choice, though it saddens him (Ezekiel 18:23).

Matthew 18:12-14“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.”

Luke 15:4-7“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”

God loves us individually—even if we are the one stupid sheep that got lost. He is not content to have “enough” sheep. He wants us, specifically, to be his own. When we are lost, he will do everything possible to bring us home to him.

Hosea 2:20“I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.”

Ephesians 5:31-33As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

God’s love is faithful. We will know the benefits and security of that love when we commit ourselves to faithfulness as well. Nurturing our relationship with God through worship, Bible reading, and prayer will help us grow more confident in God’s faithful love for us.