Love God – God is Love

Read: 1 John 4:7-21 For most of my life I grew up hearing how angry God was with his creation especially humans and while I longed to serve and please God, I did it from a very unhealthy place of fear. I heard a lot about what was upsetting God and how my actions were causing his anger. I grew up without a father in my early years and then, later on, I lived with my stepfather who only caused further despair and damage to my view of a father figure. Besides my personal experiences and the teachings of God being angry all the time created a very warped view of love and more so the love of a male figure in my life. My approach to God was one of a distant relationship and as I mentioned my experiences with my earthly father figures made me comfortable with the view it was better to serve God from a distance and be content that if I didn’t get everything right, I could expect judgment in my life. I lived with an expectation that things will always go wrong in my life because of the underlying truth I could not keep all God’s commands, and just like my earthly father’s dealing with me I could expect God the Father to do the same. I lived a very chaotic, depressed and hopeless life all the while being in the church. I know the above scenario may not be so strange to many of you and I hope that if you are still thinking or feeling this way about God the Father that your mindset will be changed and you will be set free from the bondage of fear. The scriptures declare, “God is love” (1 John 4:8 NIV). In 1 John 4:7 – 21 the words love, loves and loved is mentioned approximately twenty-seven times and the author; the Apostle John called himself the “Disciple whom God loved.” (John 13:23 NIV). The Apostle John had such a profound revelation about the love of God he endured many hardships and persecutions. Without a revelation of who God is and how much he loves us it will be easy for the storms, trials, and persecutions of life to beat us down and keep us in fear of judgment and condemnation. The enemy of our soul thrives on keeping us ignorant of God’s love to derail us from being all God made us to be. I trust today will be a new beginning for you as you venture out to see God as loving and kind and be led to fulfill your purpose in this life.]]>