A Little Love for Your Day

You may have seen this post coming because, if you know me, you know I recently had a baby. Ellsey will be three weeks old on Thursday and since she has been born, God has taught me a little bit more about how much he loves me each day.  Don't get me wrong, I have always known that God loves me. But when this little girl entered my life, I reached a whole new level of understanding.

Before Ellsey, I had a hard time understanding how God can constantly forgive, constantly love, constantly show mercy. What is more, I struggled to understand how he could do this without any effort of my own. You see, I have always been the kind of person who feels the need to work for and earn what I'm given. I have a hard time accepting things that are freely given. Because of this, I have always struggled with trying to earn my salvation. I tried to earn it because, before Ellsey, I could not fully wrap my mind around the idea that God would truly want to give everything for me.

But almost three weeks ago, I reached a new level of understanding God's love. Suddenly, when I look at Ellsey, I know that there is nothing that she could do to lose my love. She didn't do anything to earn this love except open her beautiful eyes and breathe. And right now, this love is pretty one-sided. She knows my voice and can see me if I'm close enough, but that's about it. Yet on my end, I haven't had a decent night of sleep since she's been born (so excuse all grammatical and spelling errors), I have endured hours upon hours of screaming, and I have had to cater to her every whim. But in spite of all this, just holding her is worth it all.

And I think this is how God feels. We sin, we turn away, we take advantage of him, we run. We have done nothing to deserve his love, yet he gives it freely. And the most beautiful part of all this is that it cannot be removed. Nothing can take this love away from us. We learn this in Romans 8, one of my favorite passages, and one that got me through many nightmares as a child.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (8:35-39)

You see, nothing-- let that soak in-- nothing can separate us from his love. Nothing you can do will make him love you more and nothing you have done has made him love you less. God is love and that love is poured out on you and me. Soak it up. Let it surround you and engulf you. His love is full and complete. His love is perfect and it will never fail you-- no matter how many times you fail him. So take a second today to thank him for how much he loves you. And take time to realize just how special, important and loved you are because "are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. And even the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:29-31). Take this, and love and be loved today.