Jesus loves me, this I know...

Jesus loves me, this I know…

Why is that fact so hard for me to admit?

Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me. 

I sang this precious song regularly as a child, but most times there was a deep part of my heart that refused to believe it.  

Does God really love me? Does He even like me? 

A few weeks ago, I was sitting on the couch in my living room seeking to please my Heavenly Father by spending a few moments with Him, when He brought these questions back to the forefront of my mind: Does God really love me? Does He even like me? 

Along with these questions came a beautiful reminder from the Holy Spirit…

God loves me because I am His child, not because of what I do for Him.

I have often wondered why we tell young children how beautiful and wonderful their finger-painting is.  I mean, let’s be honest, we all know we have no idea what they were trying to paint, but we praise them nevertheless. Why?

Because we love the child who painted it. 

Parents genuinely delight in their children’s artwork, not because the art is beautiful itself, but because the child they dearly love created it.  This fact ironically makes the artwork beautiful.

As I sat in Memphis, desperately trying to please God with my life, He stilled my heart and told me tenderly how much He loved me.  I began weeping on my couch as I finally let the deepest part of my heart receive this truth:

My Heavenly Father loves me not because of any finger-painting of “good deeds” I have presented Him, but because I am His.  I am a daughter of the King.  The one and only true King.

I can spend the rest of my life trying to earn His love and favor, but nothing I can do will change His mind about me: I am His and He is mine. He will never stop loving me because I have been covered with the blood of the Lamb for all eternity.

I am beautiful, not because of any physical characteristic or personality trait (there is truly nothing good in me apart from Christ) but because I am clay in the Potter’s hand: a work of art by the Ultimate Artist.

When our actions are a direct result of the love we have for the Father and the love He has for us, they become beautiful.  Apart from the love of God, nothing is beautiful.  And when true love for the Father exists, we won’t be able to contain it.

So the next time you see a young child’s finger-painting, remember how deeply you are loved.  

And the next time your attempt to please God seems to fall short, remember God doesn’t love your deeds, He loves YOU!

Let your actions flow FROM love instead of to it.

Ephesians 2:1-10

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (emphasis added)

Praise God for His grace and perfect love in spite of my sin and failure.  He is good!