Experiencing God's Love
The clear declaration of Scripture is that God loves us unconditionally. There is never anything we can do that would cause Him to love us any less, nor is there anything that we can do to cause Him to love us more. God loves us because “God is love” (1 John 4:8). It is a grace we receive by faith that is not only unconditional but constant and unwavering. Yet, most of us would confess that we don’t always experience God’s love in this way. Our experience of God’s love ebbs and flows, it seems real and informs our attitude and choices in life, and then it doesn’t. This is the human condition. We can, however, minimize both the number and duration of those times in our life where we are not feeling loved by God. In the following paragraphs, I am going to summarize what I believe are some of the more common blockages within us.
Understanding with our mind but not believing in our heart- There is a night and day difference between understanding something and believing it. And to understand that God loves us is a great beginning but it must become a belief that informs our heart. Romans 5:5 says “the love of God has been poured within our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” Developing new godly beliefs, and meditating on them until our hearts are convinced will transform what we know into what we believe.
Willful disobedience- One of the consequences of sin is it grieves the Holy Spirit and creates a separation between us and God. In Psalm 51 David confesses his sin and acknowledges the separation it has created between him and God with language like “do not cast me away from Your presence” and “do not take your Holy Spirit from me” but “restore to me the joy of Your salvation. Sin doesn’t change the fact that God loves us but it does hinder our experience of it. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any hidden sin, confess it and be restored to a fresh experience of God’s love and forgiveness.
Misinterpreting present circumstances- We are tempted to doubt God’s love for us when we encounter trials, hardship or unexpected tragedy. This temptation is grounded in a false expectation, which is really a lie or ungodly belief. The lie suggests that as a follower of Jesus we should never experience any of the negative consequences that sometimes come our way as a result of living in a world that has been corrupted by sin. The author of the book of Hebrews reminds that sometimes our difficult circumstances are actually God disciplining us as legitimate sons and daughters (Hebrews 12:5-11). In those times hardship and trials are proof of His love rather than a sign He no longer loves us. God’s love is defined for us when Jesus died for our sins, not by our current circumstances, pleasant or unpleasant.
Undisciplined in controlling our thoughts and emotions- We have many thoughts during any given day, with some of them being automatic negative thoughts driven by the ungodly beliefs we entertain. As we receive and contemplate those lies negative emotions like fear, anger, resentment, bitterness, and suspicion begin to wash over us, thus replacing love, joy, peace and other fruits of the Holy Spirit. Part of warfare it to take “every thought captive unto the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Becoming more disciplined in our thought life and examining where that idea is coming and whether it is true or false is essential to experiencing God’s love on a daily basis.
Reflecting on God’s Truth
1. The starting place is to personalize the apostle Paul’s prayers in Ephesians chapter 1 and chapter 3. Ask God to move what you know to be true in your mind and make it a belief of your heart. Pray each of these prayers until you experience the Holy Spirit pouring out Christ’s love in our heart.
2. Can you relate to any of the above blockages? If so, pursue the suggested remedies and anything else the Holy Spirit reveals to you personally.
3. Be sure to share a posting on the blog with any insights you receive so that we can also benefit from your learning.
Author
Pastor Bruce is the Executive Director of God's Living Stones. He lives in Omaha, NE, with his wife Barb. They have two adult children.
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