God Is the Greatest Lover
Please open your Bible and read:
(1 John 4:16 – 21 )
God’s love is an everlasting gift. We don’t deserve it. And there’s nothing we can do to lose it. The Father’s love simply is; no amount of good or bad work causes it to change. What’s more, we must realize that when we try to pay someone back for a freely given gift, we frustrate the giver and reveal our own lack of self – worth.
As long as we feel we must deserve the Father’s love, we cannot fully experience it. We’ll be so busy trying to do something lovable that it won’t occur to us to be still and simply allow His nature to settle our mind and heart. And what is His nature? God isn’t simply loving; the Scriptures tell us that He is love. (1 John 4:16)
In addition, God’s love is sacrificial. The kind of love that puts aside one’s own desires to meet the needs of the beloved. In our case, the need is salvation. We are sinners, incapable on our own of relating to a holy God. Divine justice required payment for our sin – debt. Yet, to express His love while staying true to His justice, God determined a substitute would pay the penalty in our place. And so He sent His Son to die on the cross. There, Jesus was allowed to endure the torment of separation from His Father. As a result, everyone who trusts in the Savior’s sacrifice never has to experience His pain.
God loved before you were born, 2,000 years ago, He sent Jesus to die in your place. Stop trying to earn the gift that you already own! Follow this command instead: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 KJV).
About the Author
This devotional was written by Dr Charles Stanley. Read more about him here: http://www.talk.thelife.com/authors/charles-stanley/
Related Reading
Life out of death: http://militarylives.com/stories/chander.html
I appreciate how clearly God’s grace is shown in this article. I read Dr. Stanley’s atricles two times daily. In the “In Touch” magazine and with the retirement devotional. I am a born again Christian saved by God’s grace, and still, this devotional serves my needs because human nature nudges us to think we can “arrive” on our own, or we need to “prove our worth” to God. This happens so easily when we move our focus from God and His gift of salvation full and free to ourselves. “Self” is a troublesome thing unless it is fully surrendered to God’s purpose.
For many years I was raised around legalistic mind set. Growing up I had the impression that God was a guy with a whip ready to keep me in line. If or when I sinned I was doomed to hell and God was just wasiting to send me there. These are comforting verses of scripture for some one like me. It has been a hard mindset to overcome, but I’m getting there.