The Greatest Love of All
Hi everyone! Regarding this week’s discussion, it is very near and dear to my heart. Throughout my walk with Christ, I have learned to see God’s love in a plethora of ways. In my late teens to early twenties, I struggled to see God as my Father. During that period in my life, I had a very strained relationship with my dad, which negatively influenced how I saw YAH. My perspective of God was misconstrued by comparing Him to the shortcomings of man. As my faith grew, I learned that I couldn’t compare God to man. His nature is not the same. I realized we do ourselves a disservice when we make that comparison. No good comes from it. Instead, it causes what could be a flourishing Father-child relationship to be distant and fear-based. But in reading the Word and personal experience, I could see God correctly. I could come to a place of belief that He is loving, and as His child, I can approach Him. I do not have to avoid Him trying to distance myself from a place of fear. But I can come boldly to Him.
At first, it was difficult for me to grasp the fullness of His love for me. With God’s patience and reassurance, He showed me what real love looked like. When I was finally able to receive God’s love, I was overwhelmed with gratitude, that I am a child of the Most High God loved immensely by my Heavenly Father. I am not unloved or unlovable. This is only part of my story; there is so much more I could share. I will share that seeing God correctly and receiving His love allowed me to extend grace in areas where my dad had fallen short in the early part of my life. While receiving YAH’s love, I could more freely give love to others, but more importantly, I was more inclined to showing it to my dad.
It’s my hope that my story will help those who have struggled to receive God’s love and see Him as their Father. You may not have had a strained or non-existent relationship with your natural father. But through other factors in your life, it can cause you to see YAH incorrectly. After this discussion, I pray you will divorce yourself of any misconceptions and embrace the love God has for His children. In today’s discussion, we will: discuss the depths of YAH’s love, the ways God’s love is displayed, and how we embrace the Father’s love.
The Depth of YAH’s Love
The first area to discuss is the depth of YAH’s love for His children. Romans 5:8 shows believers how much we are truly loved by God. This is one of my favorite scriptures. I often paraphrase it as, “When we weren’t thinking about God, He was thinking about us. While we were living in sin, His love was shown by willingly giving His Son to bear the sins of the world.” And of course John 3:16 is one, if not the most, commonly known scriptures. In verses 16 and 17, we see the benefits of believing in Christ. When we believe that Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, we receive eternal life. We are not condemned but granted salvation through Christ. And, lastly in the latter portion of Romans 8, it shows us that no matter the opposition we face, it isn’t great enough to separate us from God’s love. The scripture reiterates that YAH’s love is expressed through Christ. It is vital for those who believe to understand there is no greater love than Christ laying down His life for all.
Even though there are individuals who would deny Him and choose not to accept the free gift given to us. We have to remove the former ideologies we’ve held within ourselves. We may have encountered people who could not love us genuinely, and it was either conditional, transactional, or not at all. But, in order to receive God’s love, we must believe it. It’s a matter of believing God’s Word for yourself. Someone can share the gospel with you. That is an expression of God’s love; but, it is up to each of us coming to a place where you read His Word and believe it is true. It is all about whether you believe or not. That is what we all must consider in our lives.
Displays of God’s Love
Once we’ve come to a place of understanding, believing the depth of YAH’s love, we then can see the various ways that God’s love is expressed. Listed below are some, not all, of God’s characteristics along with scriptures to support them.
God is Merciful
God is our Protector
God is our Strength and Sustainer
God is our Chastiser
God is our Provider
Embracing the Father’s Love
Now that we have discussed the depths of YAH’s love and some of the ways it is expressed, I hope it makes it easier for us to embrace the Father’s love. We are not orphans, left fatherless. We are sons of God [sonship]. We no longer have to be fearful and avoidant. Instead, we are able to confidently come to our Father and receive His love. Through the Word of God, we discover YAH’s character, which allows us to walk in Truth and remove any lie we once believed. Additionally, as our relationship grows, we are strengthened in our perception of God as Father.
Closing Thoughts
From this discussion, I hope you have gained a better understanding of God’s love and see how it has impacted your life. I would suggest rereading the provided scriptures, as well as discovering others to increase your faith in this area. Lastly, I pray that His Spirit would show you any areas that has hindered you from fully receiving and walking confidently as a child of the Most High God.
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