HOPE in Him

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

1 John 4:8

Do you ever have one of those days when you wake up, look in the mirror, and wonder how anyone in their right mind could love you? This question may not be based on how wrinkled your face looks or how much your hair is misbehaving at the moment. This question may be based on how ugly you feel deep inside. We all have moments where jealousy enters the picture… when we want what others have or what they have achieved. We all are guilty of being prideful, focusing on our abilities and limiting God’s power. Jealous thoughts are natural. Prideful thoughts are normal. Ugly thoughts make us human.

Our God is a God of love. He loves us with His best even when we are at our worst. It’s necessary for us to rest in His character, which is woven together with His love for us. God’s love is forgiving, unchanging, trustworthy, deep, and sacrificial… gifting us His incredibly loving son to die an indescribable death on the cross to wipe away all our sins… our jealousy, our pride, our ugly thoughts. I love Adrian Roger’s description of salvation: Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, but a gift for the guilty. There is nothing we did to earn this precious gift of salvation and there is nothing we can do to lose this eternal gift… a gift of HOPE.

Jesus chose to suffer an excruciating death… the most horrible way a person can die. It was humiliating, excruciatingly painful, and reserved for the very worst of the worst criminals. And… if all that wasn’t enough, Jesus felt the spiritual agony and full consequence of bearing our sin… how sin makes us feel helpless and alienated. Jesus felt the HOPElessness of feeling separated from The Father for the very first time. Even so, Jesus preferred to bear a horrible death on the cross than be separated from us. I can’t think of a love that is greater than His sacrificial love.

Love is God’s very nature. This means He will not stop loving us because to do so means that He stops being Himself. That said, our Savior won’t love us more when we’re obedient or less when we are sinful. His love is based on His character, not our worthiness. We never have to worry about losing His love even when we are at our worst. His love does not change because of our choices or behavior. His love for us is based on His very nature and is our loving HOPE.

So, when you feel unloved, know for certain that God loves you. His sent His Son to save you… to live with Him for eternity by covering you with His righteousness and love. Eph.2:4-5: 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;). Jesus chose to suffer an excruciating death so that you can have eternal life. There is no love greater than His eternal love.

Even in our trials and challenges, God shows us His love. Nothing (no-thing) touches our lives without God’s allowance. He protects and comforts us in our darkest moments while providing a life-lesson that will draw us even closer to Him. God hates sin because He knows sin will separate us from Him as we shy away from His presence in our humiliation. Sin prevents us from resting in His love and HOPE. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, we are righteous in God’s eyes. When God sees us, He sees Jesus in us. He yearns for a deep, uninterrupted, abiding relationship with us. Therefore, we must let go of our sin because God already has.  John 10:28:"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."... the very reason to have HOPE in Him.

God’s love never fails because He is love. He will never stop caring for us, even if we defy His will, doubt His character, demean His love… He will always welcome us back into His loving arms. Release your sin to Him and replace it with love for Him. God loves us at our worst… we must love Him with our very best. Put your HOPE in Him and your worst will become His best.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8