There is a great lie that is pushed upon mankind on a moment by moment basis: our Creator doesn’t love us.
Or maybe He loves some of us more than others, based on our performance for Him. Maybe He will only be present with certain religious denominations because they’re “getting it right” or holding the “correct doctrines.” Perhaps He loves the ones who seek Him more than the ones who don’t think about Him often. A conditional love is almost a more effective lie to whisper into the ears of humanity than the lie of nonexistent love.
If we could all be frozen in fear of losing Love, maybe we would waste our precious, short lives comparing, judging and competing with our fellow man. If our driving force is fear of punishment rather than how deeply we are loved, then we will miss the point.
If we try to earn or keep Love, we can’t experience it fully. If we can’t experience it fully then we can’t understand our Father’s nature, and thus our own nature. We begin to doubt Him. We forget how He loves us, and we become unloved or unloveable in our own minds.
The work is nearly done at that point. If evil can distort the love of God, the door is wide open for shame, pride, fear, and despair to becoming the compelling forces in our lives. Under the influence of shame, fear and despair, we turn our hearts away from Him, and a hardening of our hearts will begin to take place.
If you have had a true encounter with the love of God (or, the God of Love) you will never be the same. It is life-changing to tap into the reality of how much we are loved. Even if it is a brief moment that you actually feel it…it is clarity. It is as if you just remembered something you can’t believe you ever forgot. It’s like your soul has found the place where it belongs. You know in that moment that this is how it has ALWAYS been. You don’t suddenly earn or deserve Love once you experience it. You have simply become aware of reality that has been hidden until that moment.
This Love is true; You just never realized it.
You have never been unloved.
The search is over.
Nothing could or will ever compare to this Love.
You can’t earn it and you can’t lose it.
To understand the love of God brings enlightenment and true change. This is what evil exists to prevent. If we understand that we are loved beyond measure, our hearts will naturally be drawn to the source of that love. When we encounter the love of God, we respond with a desire for more of it. This is the “drawing near” that is spoken about in Scripture. The result of that drawing is a deep sense of peace and fulfillment. It produces a life of faith when suffering is real. When failure happens, there is no shame because we understand the love of this Father. No good father shames His child, ever, especially when they are trying, learning and growing.
There is no fear of condemnation or eternal punishment because again, this is our Father. We cannot understand the nature of God if we don’t understand how He loves us. It’s a staggering concept and it is continually attacked. If we live in doubt of Divine Love, we will continue to search for its existence in places that cannot satisfy our longing.
When we come face to face with our Creator and open our minds to accept the reality of that Love, IT CHANGES EVERYTHING. You will feel unworthy of it and you will accept it anyway, knowing that you could never earn it and it is the will of your good Father that you know this love deeply. It will illuminate the darkness in you, and it will destroy it. It’s true freedom.
Every human being is loved with this Love. Some refuse to accept its reality and cannot understand it. They will rely on the kind of love other people can give them. It will never satisfy them. Some will put conditions on it. They will either live as slaves in fear of punishment, or will be full of pride in their belief that God loves them more than others.
Look to Christ. He revealed perfectly what God is like. Seek one thing: to know how He loves you. When you truly experience it, you will know. Don’t listen to lies that try to distort that love and turn you away from it. Instead, press into it.
Believe the simple truth: you are loved. Not in part, but in whole. Holy & Beloved.