TO ALL THE BELOVED OF GOD

God loves us, despite our past, filled with sinfulness, and rebellion, against Him; despite our wayward, and wavering faith in Him, in the present; despite our uncertain, and patches filled commitment, for the future. When we look at God’s love for us, we can’t but say, “WHAT KIND OF LOVE IS THIS?” Yes, “WHAT KIND OF LOVE IS THIS?”
– “3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” – Jeremiah 31:3
– “6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”* – Romans 5:6-8

No wonder then, the apostle Paul, writing to the early Christians at Rome, has these words, which apply to us too…
– “7 To all who are in Rome, BELOVED OF GOD, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” – Romans 1:7

How sweet the sound of these words are to our ears! How wonderful to know that we are “HIS BELOVED!” Oh the love of God! Who can describe it for us? It is impossible, to say the least, on a human level. The Bible, which is the written Word of God, has laid it out, plain and clear, the love of God, for us to know, the agape love of God. Olivia Clarke sums this up very well. 
– “The Bible describes God’s love as compassionate, patient, and forgiving. It’s a love that is steadfast and enduring, no matter the circumstances. In fact, the Scriptures tell us that God’s love is so deep and so powerful that it can never be separated from us, no matter what challenges we face.”

So want do we do? How do we respond to such an amazing love? The key to our proper response, as a Christian, consists of us “KNOWING” this great and abounding love of God, in all its glory and majesty. Not just to know and stop there, but to go deeper and deeper in our understanding, of this amazing love.

In this process of knowing God, and His amazing love, we should, happily and readily, let go of ourselves, our thoughts, and our own understanding of the LORD. More importantly, we should let go of this self-righteous sense of, how deeply we are committed to God, and how deeply we love God. To have a sense of what and how, we feel about God, is good and healthy. Nothing wrong with such an outlook. However, to focus on how much we love God inordinately, as though it is some kind of a badge of honour, is a terrible sin, and idolatry of the worst kind. For all that we are worth, is much much less than a zero. Peter Kreeft’s words help us see this clearly.
– “Trusting God’s grace means trusting God’s love for us rather than our love for God. […] Therefore our prayers should consist mainly of rousing our awareness of God’s love for us rather than trying to rouse God’s awareness of our love for him, like the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:26-29).”

Let us seek the LORD in the year 2025 that, He would help us see His amazing love, and help us grow truly deeper, in our understanding of His great love. May we earnestly pray that, God would rid us, of our sense of self-worth, in regards to how much we love God, and our commitment to Him. For it is sin, and our golden-calf moment. May the LORD help us, to focus only on His love for us, and a deep and truer understanding of our utter unworthiness, which reflects who we actually are. Even so, the LORD help us.