GOD’S LOVE, THE GOSPEL
Susan Murray
Today’s Scripture: “And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” Luke 15:20, ESV
Theme: Have compassion like the father and offer a way back, just as Jesus did for us.
MISCONCEPTIONS
I was raised in church and learned about right and wrong along with the Gospel. I tried hard to be a good girl so I could win or earn the approval of others, and of God. When I failed in one way or another, I knew intellectually that Jesus died for my sins and He forgives, but I just continued to feel less-than, unwanted, and not enough.
I finally realized that my heart's imagination of God was different from what my mind understood. Here the father is pictured running to the prodigal son, but in my heart, the picture was of God the Father standing on the front porch with arms crossed and tapping his foot saying with a begrudging voice, “Yes Susan, you can come back in.” It was that feeling of being only tolerated, not loved or desired.
TRUTH
The truth is not based on my feelings but on Scripture. My heavenly Father runs after me with great delight every time I come back to my senses, realize my sin, and confess to Him without denials, defensiveness, minimizing, or blame-shifting. My heart needs to grasp that truth over and over until the Gospel is more real to me than anything else. God’s love does not wax and wane, but is solid, consistent, and never-ending. “Being good” could never earn His acceptance, and “being bad” could never make me lose His acceptance because of Jesus’ substitutional atonement (Hebrews 12:17). In other words, although God does not approve of sin, we are accepted by God because of Jesus’ death and resurrection (2 Corinthians 5:21). It was never about me being enough, but about Jesus being enough.
FOR OTHERS TOO
When my heart grasps this truth, it frees my guilty conscience, bringing peace and rest. I feel His love. I am then able to have compassion for others who are struggling.
When my heart forgets – and it does – I feel insecure. It leads me to have thoughts of others' failures that sound like this: “I can’t believe she would do something like that;” “I would never do that to you;” “What was he thinking? What an idiot!” When those judgmental thoughts come, I know I have forgotten God’s great love for me. The more I grasp His love, the more secure I feel, and the more I can love others in their struggle, pointing them to Christ. “Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread,” (D.T. Niles).
Make It Personal: What is your imagination saying to you about God your Father? How do you feel about Him? Talk to Him right now with complete honesty. He already knows what you think and feel, and He is waiting for you to turn to Him. God loves us extravagantly like that.
Pray: Father, You delight to love sinners. Open my spiritual eyes to see Your love and delight more clearly so that I can be full of joy in You. Please help me to have a heart that is fully satisfied and secure in You. Then I will be able to point others to Your love. Amen.
Read: Luke 15: 1-7; I John 3: 19-24; Zephaniah 3:17
Weekly Memory Verse: “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8, ESV