We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. 1 John 4:16 (NLT)
Tomorrow, on Jesus’ birthday, remember why He came. It was for love Jesus came to restore our love relationship with God—both because God wants to be loved by us and because we need His love.
When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, they were confident and secure in the self-worth they derived from God’s love. Even after they disobeyed God, He still loved them, but they lost touch with that love. Instead of confidently walking and talking with God every day, they began to hide from Him in fear.
Today, many believers still feel the need to hide from God, even though we are free to live and walk in His love. This is a big problem because we were not designed to live disconnected from God’s love.
Although we need love from other people as well, there’s a level of love you can’t get from anyone but God. In fact, it’s that love— that completely unconditional, unearned, unending love—that empowers you to love others. We need God’s love, and not a little dab of it. We need to become aware of the firehose, flooding, geyser type of love He has for us that never turns off.
The good news is that you can begin to rely on this unconditional love of God that never waivers. Start by looking for evidence of it every day—in the little happy “coincidences” that happen to you, in the kindness of others, in the beauty of the season, in the wonder of creation and, most of all, in God’s Word. And when you wish someone a Merry Christmas, think of it as just another way of saying, “God loves you!
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