He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

"He loves me… he loves me not…" This phrase signifies the death of flowers everywhere as petals fall to the ground carrying with them the hopes and dreams of a little second grade girl who wonders if she has found her Prince Charming. It's a silly game that is played by our daughters, our students, and our little sisters that ends only when one petal remains signifying if the object of her affection does or does not reciprocate her "love."I chuckle at the thought of a little girl on the playground in distress because the final petal landed on "he loves me not" indicating to her that all hope is lost. I chuckle again as she picks up a handful of new flowers to try again and again until the last petal lands on "he loves me."

I played this game far too many times as a child. Unfortunately, I still play it to this day.

I hold in my hands all of my deeds and as I drop each one to the ground, I determine if He loves me or if He loves me not. Obviously, the He I am talking about is Jesus. I was kind to a stranger today… He loves me. I snapped at a friend out of impatience… He loves me not. I spent my afternoon praying and reading the Word… He loves me. I sinned again… He loves me not. I know this game makes just about much sense as the version I played in elementary school, yet I still have the tendency to play it from time to time on an off day. I forget or I choose to ignore the fact that His love for me is not contingent on what I have or have not done, but rather on the fact that He chooses to love me regardless. Do you or I deserve the love He chooses to pour out on us? Absolutely not. We are fooling ourselves if we think we deserve it any more that the man who sits behind bars for murdering his child. We are also fooling ourselves if we think we deserve it any less than our pastor who spoke so eloquently on Sunday. 

It is by the grace of God, God's unmerited, unearned favor, that we have the opportunity to sit under the fountain of his love and drink deeply from it. My goodness does not gain me that access, nor does my sin revoke that access. Today these words from 1 John bounce around in the walls of my heart: 

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. By this is love perfected with us, so that we many have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in the world. there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 

I don't think I am the only one who needed the reminder today that God's love for me is more sure than anything in my life. Nothing, NOTHING, you or I could ever do will make God stop loving us. If you don't believe me, go read it for yourself here, and then go forward in the grace and peace of God.

If you are reading this and you have never experienced the love of God before, or you aren't sure what all of this Jesus stuff has to do with you anyways, please leave a comment below or send me an email to the address provided in my bio. I would love to introduce the two of you.