My daughter get’s it!
We were driving home from church a couple of months ago and I asked her this question, “Charisse, did you know that your daddy loves you?”
“Yes sir,” she replied.
“Well, do you know why I love you,” I asked.
“Because I’m your little girl,” she answered.
THEN I asked the BIG Question:
“Do you think daddy could ever stop loving you?”
“No sir,” she said.
“And why not,” I asked.
“Because I’m your little girl and I will always be your little girl!”
I smiled and thought, SHE’S GOT IT…she knows that my love for her is NOT based on her performance but rather her position as my daughter. Even though she will break some rules in the future and do some things that I am quite sure will grieve my heart…she will always be loved by me because she is mine.
I’ve told her on numerous occasions, “You can’t make me not love you!”
It’s funny though…even though I know this when it comes to me and my relationship with Charisse I sometimes struggle with it when it comes to my relationship with God. If I am not careful I will naturally drift into a performance mentality, actually believing He loves me because of how much time I spent reading my Bible, how many people responded to the sermon I preached or how well I fought the urge to sin…
And then during the times when I mess up, when I have a bad attitude, when I entertain a lustful thought…I begin the focus on who I am and think, “there’s no way He loves me, heck, I don’t even love me right now!”
But, what’s true about me and my daughter is true of me and my relationship with God (AND you too if you belong to Him!) That His love for us is not based on our performance but rather our position as His child.
The Apostle Paul said it best in Romans 8:38-39 where He said that NOTHING can separate us from God’s love! NOTHING! (And…if you will read those verses it’s a pretty extensive list!)
I believe it is essential for every believer in Christ to get this…because I am convinced that our lives would look so much different if we lived them out in the confidence that He loves us rather than the false idea that we’re somehow trying to earn His love.
God’s love is based on position, not performance…just felt like someone needed to hear that today.