Now That You Believe

In our bible lesson every week I learn many things in the bible. Some of the essential truths on how we live our lives, understand scripture and interact with God, will be emphasized as we discover God's amazing love, and how that love has brought us forgiveness, redemption, and reconciliation with our Holy God. Understand what it means to describe God's love as complete, unconditional, unmerited, unchanging, personal, and radically life changing. Recognized areas where you have believed something false about God as the eternal Lover of your soul. Evaluate areas in which you've falsely tried to gain or earn more of God's love. Recognized times you've doubted God's complete, unconditional love. Read Romans 5: 1-10.

One of the most difficult things to accept when we first come to know the Lord Jesus Christ is that God loves us just as we are. We humans have tendency to strive to ''deserve'' what we have. Monetary wealth, loving families, solid careers... these are the things that we strive to earn. God's love, however, can never be earned by human effort. There is absolutely nothing that we can do to make God love us, or to make him love us more. (Romans 5:8) You may understand this intellectually, but have trouble believing it deep down in your heart. Sometimes we don't even realize our struggle to fully believe in God's free, unchanging love.

Have you ever tried to make God love you more by serving Him in some way or by striving to live a ''better'' life? Asking God for personal insight, list two ways you have tried to earn more of God's favor.

No matter what your past has dictated or what you feel right now, God's love has always been freely given to you. God pours His love upon us with no exceptions-no ifs, ands, or buts. My Christian friend, God did not begin to love you at the moment you invited Him into your life. He did not begin to love you when you first started going to church. He did not begin to love you when you rose from the baptismal waters. In truth, God never ''began'' to love you at all; He simply always has. From the creation of the world, God knew you and loved you. ( 1 Jhon 4: 19; Psalm 139:13)

A foundational truth in exploring this aspect of God's character is that His love never wavers one degree to the left or right. It is always exactly the same, never changing, for all eternity. (1 Jhon 4: 16-17)

This may be shocking news for you. Have you ever been so remorseful for something you have done that you honestly believed that it made God love you less?

Try to write about a particular experience you had when you felt as though God could love you less because of something you did or said. What happened, and how did you feel?

Most of us have had this fear at one point. No matter how we've felt before, however, we have the assurance of Scripture that God's love does not change. He loves us no matter what we may do. In fact, He was well aware of our sinfulness from the beginning. As we investigate God's love, let us honestly examine the way in which He sees us.