Knowing God’s Love

Consider the massive number of emojis on your phone. From sassy poses to beet-red anger, silly tongues sticking out, and even eyes replaced with hearts, emojis represent so many emotions we experience in our world.

Amuse me by considering this silly question:

What emoji best represents God’s face, thoughts, or attitude toward you right now?

Why did you pick that emoji?

A few weeks back, I was forced into the role of disciplining father for my son. It is not a position I enjoy, but I know it is necessary.

It was a hard week for all of us, and we were all needing to learn to handle our emotions more appropriately. I confess there are times when my anger and frustration lead me to say and do things I am not proud of in the discipline process.

I felt guilty, but then I was encouraged.

I received a report from Cooper’s school that, in a conversation with him, they asked, “Who do you love most?”

I had been bad cop most of the week, so I assumed “Mommy” would be the answer. But in this moment, he said, “My dad.”

I could feel a weight lift when I heard that because, even though the week had been challenging and I regretted some of my actions, my son still knew I loved him—and he loved me.

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
(1 John 4:16)

John writes that we have come to know and believe the love God has for us.

I wonder what it would look like in our lives if we truly came to know and believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the love that God has for us.

How much lighter would I feel if every thought I had of God began with him loving me?

What if every expression I imagined on God’s face toward me was one of love?

What if I constantly lived with the assurance of God’s delight in me, his care for me, and his desire to be with me?

When God feels distant, it is not because his heart has changed toward us. Often, we are the ones looking in the wrong places, traveling down the wrong paths, or pursuing the wrong things.

God’s heart toward you has never changed.

God’s love for you has never waned or wavered.

Do you know this love?

Have you ever considered that God only and always loves because he is love?

Today, no matter what happens, I want you to declare:

I know my Father loves me!