“The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.” – A. W. Tozer1
Haven’t you done something you’re delighted with only to find yourself secretly thinking that others should admire you for what you’ve done, that somehow you deserve to be loved? Come on now…fess up. What about the time you shipped a perfect quality batch, or the time you finish shingling the roof minutes before the rain? What about the job you got done in the time-frame they needed it when everyone else thought it was impossible and gave up? Or when you brought the new guy up to speed and now their working on their own? Haven’t you ever felt that way toward God? After this accomplishment, He should love me…look at all I did…
Or what about the other side? Have you ever done something so bad that you got that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach? You know like when you were a little kid and had to tell your parents you broke Mom’s favorite vase playing hide-and-seek or lost Dad’s favorite tool in the woods playing gun-spy? How about the time you crashed into that parked car or “totaled” the car because you were not paying attention to driving? Be honest, weren’t you just a little (or maybe a lot) afraid that Mom and Dad wouldn’t love you quite the same after this one…??? Have you ever felt that way toward God? After this sin there’s no way He could still love me….I’m such a failure…
Well…I’ve got good news: God’s love is immutable (unchangeable). Rom 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This means nothing we have done, are doing, or will do in the future can change how much God loves us. The most heinous sin, the most righteous behavior bares no affect on God’s love for us. He already loved us in our most sinful state. God never changes. He never grows or learns something that changes His thinking or His love for us. There is “no shadow of turning” in Him. We don’t have to worry about waking up one day to find out He’s angry with us, or frustrated about something we have done. His love for us is pure and undefiled. It is untainted by negative thoughts in the back of His head. (He has no negative thoughts.) His love is steady and unchanging – UNCONDITIONAL! No condition “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” (Rom 8:38-39)
“Anything not rooted and grounded in the unconditional love of God eventually leads to legalism and bondage. Your human effort does not get God to love you more. It is not based on what you have done. It is based on the benevolence and goodness of God. It is not based on how clean you are, it is based on what Jesus has done. Walking with God is not about anger, duty and discipline; it is about love.” – Jack Frost
You are His child and He eagerly chooses to love you, wholly, unchangeably, and unconditionally. God loves you as much as He loves Jesus (Jn 17:23). God looks at you and smiles! I think He’s talking to you right now, “You are my child in whom my favor rests! I LOVE YOU!!” - Dad (See Ps 30:5)
Oh great God of love, come and fill us now. We give our hearts to you. Fill them as only you can. Smooth over the cracks, repair the broken places. Be our Father and let your unconditional love surround us as we trust in You (Ps 32:10). Amen!
Footnotes
1 Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy: the Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1961. 3. Print.
References
All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.
Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy: the Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1961. Print.
