Thursday, March 11, 2010

God Loves Us No Matter What

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." -- Romans 8:38-39

Think about it. I can't do anything to make God stop loving me. You can't do anything to make God stop loving you. That is so comforting. It means that no matter how badly we mess up -- and we all mess up -- that we can't lose God's love. He loves us no matter what.

It makes me want to try extra hard to be the person He made me to be. I want to resist all the temptations Satan throws my way. I want to stiffen up against the frustrations of life. I want to control my tongue and always find time and energy for others. In other words, that He loves me so much makes me want to be a better person.

It's different in human relationships. We hurt each other's feelings. We betray confidences. We steal from each other. We commit adultery. The list goes on and on. Nobody fusses and feuds and fights like we humans.

Sometimes we simply can't forgive one another. I know. The Bible tells us to forgive others so that God will forgive us. But how do we forgive someone who has an affair with our spouse? How do we forgive someone who spread lies about us and cost us a promotion at work? How do we forgive the drunk driver who killed a loved one?

It is possible to forgive others. We can do it with God's help. But I'm not sure we ever forget the wrong. We may let it go. We may move forward. But do we really forget? And isn't that what true forgiveness is? Isn't it letting go, shoving it aside and moving on as though the hurt never happened?

That's how God forgives us. He puts our sin behind Him and it's like it never happened. We can come to Him, get down on our knees and, with complete remorse, ask for Him to forgive us and He will. That kind of forgiveness is so foreign to us. It seems almost impossible except that with God, all things are possible.

Satan may wage war against us on this earth. We may struggle and fall. We may suffer from our own mistakes and the mistakes of others. But God is near. We belong to Him. He loves us. And nothing, but nothing, can ever separate us from Him and the love He has for us.