“Look with wonder at the depth of the Father’s marvelous love that he has lavished on us! He has called us and made us his very own beloved children.”
1 John 3:1 TPT (emphasis added)

“I love you”… These have probably been some of the hardest words that I have had to accept from God, and the most difficult aspect of my identity in Christ to believe. You see like many women, I am extremely hard on myself and see my faults so clearly, that at times this clouds my perception of who I am and how I believe God sees me. I have struggled to accept that I am lovable, especially by an Almighty God, and instead expect Him to judge me and point out my faults. This is not the truth…The POWERFUL TRUTH is that God is more interested in us knowing how much He loves us than He is in pointing out our faults. 

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In Ephesians 2:4-5 the bible tells us that, “God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)”  You see God did not wait for us to fix our lives before He loved us, He declared that we were loveable when He sacrificed Himself on the cross just so we could come to know Him.  

 

It can be tempting to let our past experiences; what others say about us; or even what we think about ourselves, to determine how we think God sees us. But thankfully how you feel about yourself will never change God’s unconditional love for you.  You see the rest of my story is that God did not stop telling me He loved me because I didn’t believe it.  He continually took every opportunity to show me, to whisper it to my heart, and to say the words, “I love you” until I got it.  

 

David understood God’s extravagant love for us.  In Psalm 139 he described it like this, “Every single moment you are thinking of me! How precious and wonderful to consider that you cherish me constantly in your every thought! O God, your desires toward me are more than the grains of sand on every shore! When I awake each morning, you’re still with me.” 
Psalms 139:17-18 TPT

 

An Invitation

I want to invite you to see yourself as God sees you.  I want to encourage you to speak truth over yourself every day this week.  I want you to breathe in His never-ending love for you, so take these verses and declare them over your life. Choose a time every day, preferably in the morning, stand yourself in front of a mirror and declare it out, just speak these scriptures to yourself and allow them to flood your heart.  Get a whiteboard marker and write a scripture on your mirror so that you see it every time you see yourself.  What we declare matters, so declare the truth that you are loved.  
 
For those of you who are still questioning God’s love for you… I get it... and I want to invite you to take some time this week to meditate on Romans 8, especially verses 35 – 39, and just allow God to show you the truth that nothing in the universe can diminish or separate you from His love.