Know You are Loved

See what great love the Father has given us
that we should be called God’s children– and we are!
(1 John 3:1 CSB)

This is the Good News – that the Father loves us. That we are precious to Him. That we are in His intimate family. That His love is essential to His character, and thus will never change.

If you are in Christ Jesus, if you believe in Him as your Savior, your Lord, your Treasure, if you love Christ Jesus – that is the result of the Father’s love for you. “We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19). “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).

We must remember His love every day – His love that never changes, His love that never ends, His love that is not dependent on anything we say, on anything we do, on anything we accomplish.

What happens when we forget His love?

  • When criticized, we either are defensive (feeling that if the criticism is correct, we won’t be loved), or are controlled by the critic (trying to win back his love by changing our behavior).
  • When feeling depressed and hopeless, we either plaster a smile on our faces, stifling the feelings, or turn away from God, thinking He has let us down.
  • When someone wrongs us, we either aim to convince the perpetrator of his sin, or pretend we’re ok and live a normal life outwardly while bleeding internally.
  • When gossiped about, we either wonder if we deserve it, or frantically search social media to track the terrible things being said about us and then do whatever we can to get even.
  • When tired, we either gut it out and get more and more tired, or try to create our own rest, getting angry and annoyed with those who interfere.

All these negative responses come from letting our feelings drive us – feelings of hurt, of inferiority, of inadequacy, of exhaustion, of depression. Jesus never says, “Your feelings will set you free.” Instead, He says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32). The truth that sets us free includes the truth of the Father’s love for us. When we know we are loved – when we know that the Father has declared us righteous, has justified us completely by His grace through faith in Jesus, and thus He accepts us and sees us as His own precious possession – then we are free from the chains that compel us to those negative responses. Confident in His love, we can respond differently:

  • We don’t have to let the face of the criticizer or oppressor dominate our thoughts. We can seek the Father’s loving face – and respond out of that security.
  • We don’t have to pretend everything is fine when hurting. We can cry out, like a little child with her daddy. We can weep and mourn – while holding on to the One Who loves us.
  • We can listen to critics and pray to see what is behind the criticism – yes, what ways we may have failed and need to change by God’s grace, but also what hurts and pains may be motivating the criticism, and thus be able to acknowledge that pain and stand beside the hurting criticizer.
  • We can endure the trials and tribulations of this world, not because tomorrow will be better – it may be worse! – but because nothing can separate us from the Father’s love; He will bring us safely through even the valley of the shadow of death to His heavenly Kingdom, and Jesus will return to reign forever.
  • We can see the troubled Christians around us not as problems to solve, but as others loved by God whom we can help endure in hope until they see Jesus face to face.
  • We can follow our Savior in displaying meekness – which is strength leveraged for the good of another.
  • We can know that when we are wrong or when we sin, we are still loved.

So do you feel hurt? Do you feel despairing? Don’t suppress the feelings – rather, thank God for them. But don’t let those feelings control you. Rather, use the feelings to prompt you to remember the truth of God’s love.

That’s how Jeremiah responded to feelings of despair (read Lamentations 3:17-18 to hear the depth of his feelings). In the midst of horrors far beyond what we have experienced, the prophet says:

This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:21-24).

Call to mind the Father’s love. Have that hope. Know that love every morning – every beautiful, peaceful sunrise and every horrible, pain-wracked break of day.

Do you wonder if the Father loves you like this? He does, if you are in Christ. Do you then wonder if you are in Christ? If so, come to Him! The only requirement is that you are weary and heavily burdened! (Matthew 11:28). So repent and believe in the Gospel (Mark 1:15).

Friends, in Jesus you are loved. Today. Tomorrow. For all eternity. God is faithful to His character – and thus He is faithful to love us now and forever. Remember that love. Call it to mind. And then bask in that love.

[Beth and I were privileged to take part in the annual Treasuring Christ Together retreat October 19 to 21. I try here to synthesize ideas presented and discussed at the retreat. Several different talks prompted this devotion – including those by Sean Cordell, Lance Parrot, Nathan Knight, Kenny Stokes, and Tim Cain. Anything you think particularly well said probably did not originate with me! Unless noted, Scriptures are ESV.]

 

 

When Others Sin, I . . .

How do you react when others sin?

This week we once again have been barraged with revelations of the sexual sins of a major public figure, Mark Sanford, the governor of South Carolina. We thus have the opportunity to examine ourselves, to see if we are reacting rightly or wrongly to such revelations.

Here are some common reactions, with some words of evaluation about each one:

  • When others sin, I find out all I can about it. All sorts of unnecessary information is available on Governor Sanford’s sin. Some mainstream newspapers read more like supermarket tabloids than serious journalism. A natural human reaction is to soak this up, to titillate our prurient desires by searching out the details of these illicit liaisons. Don’t do it. Such information does not make you love Jesus more, does not make you a better witness for Him, does not protect you from future sin, and does not make you a better citizen. The outline of the infidelity, and the possibility of misuse of state funds, is all we need to know.
  • When others sin, I delight in relating the details to others. Paul writes, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29). When you gossip, your speech is tearing down at least three people: yourself, the person you’re talking to, and the person you’re talking about. Don’t gossip.
  • When others sin, I look for something to admire in those hurt by the sin. We all need examples. When public leaders sin, we often are let down by those we admired. Oftentimes, however, someone around the sinner acts in an exemplary manner. In such cases, our focus should move from the sinner to the example – so that we, and those we speak with, can indeed be built up. In this case, I commend to you Jenny Sanford’s public letter. In an incredibly difficult situation, she seems to be acting with grace and wisdom.
  • When others sin, I think, “What an idiot! I would never do something like that!” The Bible is clear: Anyone who engages in adultery or fornication is a fool, ultimately destroying pleasure, not gaining pleasure. Proverbs 6:32 says, “He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself” (see my sermon on this passage). So the first part of the statement is correct.

But Paul writes, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12). That is, be careful that you don’t fall into a similar sin – in this case, sins such as adultery, fornication, lust, or viewing pornography – and be careful that you don’t fall into the sin of pride, thinking more highly of yourself than you ought (Romans 12:3). Is your life free from sexual sin? If the answer is no, use the occasion of this man’s sin to confront your own: Seek forgiveness from God and from those you have wronged, seek counsel and accountability so that you might fight this sin in the future. If the answer is yes – if your sexual life and thoughts have been pure – use the occasion of this man’s sin to remind yourself of the dead end of this sin, and to strengthen your resolve and your methods of dealing with temptation in this area. And then cultivate the next response:

  • When others sin, I confess that sin as if it were mine. If you have not committed such a sin, what has prevented you from doing so? Friend, it is certainly not your inherent goodness, your superior moral sense, or your high degree of self-control. Every one of us is guilty before God of sins so terrible that they demand a judgment of “Condemned!” (Ephesians 2:1-3). If I am free of a particular sin, God must have prevented me from committing that sin. Hear what John Donne writes:

O Lord, pardon me, me, all those sins which thy Son Christ Jesus suffered for, who suffered for all the sins of all the world; for there is no sin amongst all those which had not been my sin, if thou hadst not been my God, and antedated me a pardon in thy preventing grace.

If I have not committed any particular sin, God has, in effect, pardoned me ahead of time for that sin by extending His grace beforehand, protecting me from the sin. So the praise and honor go to Him. Sins of others thus should lead to greater humility on our part, not pride.

  • When others sin, I ask God to search my heart. My friends, sin always deceives. Sin always destroys. Sin is always discovered. So may we take the occasion of great sins by great men to ask God with David: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24). When He shows you the sin in your heart, confess it — and know the joy of living a life blameless before Him. Confessed sin – Praise God! — is always forgiven, by the blood of Jesus.

(For more on this topic, see this sermon I preached 11 years ago at the height of the Clinton/Lewinsky imbroglio. The last lines of this devotion are taken from that sermon).