Does God love imperfect, sinful us?
Do you feel as if you’re on God’s naughty list more often than not?
When you think about God, read the Bible or listen to the sermon at church, do you sometimes feel as if you deserve to be punished? That you don’t measure up to God’s standards?
If so, how miserable are you willing to become before you’re ready to allow God to change your perspective? If you’re a committed follower of Jesus – if you’ve repented of your sins and accepted Jesus’ death at Calvary as the punishment for your sins – then Romans 8:1 is true for you.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (ESV)
Let me be clear. God absolutely hates sin and the defiance it represents in us. Yet, He constantly extends mercy to us because He also hates the way sin devastates our lives. While He cannot tolerate rebellion against His Word, He loves His children with an everlasting love. After all, He sent His Son to die for our sins – not out of contempt, but out of love.
Since I have placed my faith in Christ, I don’t want the devil to deceive me – even with one thought – into believing my heavenly Father would reject me. Obviously, God isn’t pleased with many things I do. My sin grieves Him deeply, but grief isn’t rejection.
God hates my sin, but He loves me.
Rather than allowing the devil to deceive us, we must grasp what Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross means for us – for you – personally. Spending time reading and meditating on Romans 6 and 8 will help us grow in our understanding. Don’t rush through. Spend as much time as it takes to really dig in.
As we spend time in these chapters, let’s ask God to give us a deeper understanding of His Word, especially regarding why He suffered and died for us. Why He was so willing to pay the price for our sin. Why He loves imperfect, sinful us so much.
The more we glean from Romans 6 and 8, the more we’ll appreciate our indisputable worth in Christ – despite of our imperfect, sinful selves.
What do you think?
I’d love to hear your thoughts about this post. (Others might also benefit from your comment.)
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I love reading everything you write. Thank you for your beautiful thought provoking words. You are such a blessing.
Thank you so much. I pray a lot while I’m writing. I’m often amazed at how the Holy Spirit pulls it all together in a way that really works! (And yet He lets me put my name as the author.)