God's love for you will never fail

When you begin to realise the truth that God loves you no matter what it will change you, explains Jem Chesman

Jem Chesman

Last month, the world celebrated love on Valentine’s Day – a commercial dream which, last year, saw the UK spend more than £150 million sending more than 25 million cards.

When I was young, the pressure to receive a Valentine’s card felt real and so, to help relieve this pressure, my dad would always send me one. In the card he would write, ‘You are loved, from a secret admirer’.

But why was it such a big deal to me? Why is Valentine’s Day such a big event? Why are people prepared to part with their hard-earned cash on this day? It’s because ultimately, people need to know they are loved.

I saw this truth demonstrated one day when I went to collect my son from pre-school. The teacher pulled me aside and said, “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, and it’s really out of character, but your son was involved in a little scuffle over a toy. I’ve dealt with it, but I thought you should know.” As we were walking home, I didn’t mention the conversation because I could see my son was sorry. However, I felt a tap on my leg as he looked up at me and asked, “Mummy, do you still love me?” In that moment, I dropped down to his level and replied, “I will love you forever, no matter what.” As I said that, my son’s whole countenance changed because he realised that his action did not affect our relationship. It did not change my love for him.

That’s how God is with us but sometimes, I think that we have a skewed perception of him. Sometimes, we think that God is just waiting for us to mess up so that he can reprimand us, so that he can voice his disapproval. Sometimes, we are scared of him rejecting us – and because we’re scared of making a mistake it stops us walking by faith, and prevents us getting out of the boat. Too often it causes us to settle for less than God’s best for us.

To live in the freedom that God intends, we need to know and accept the love that he has for us. Love demonstrated in sending his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

God’s love for you will never fail. You can depend on that. This Valentine’s season, meditate on that truth until you start to believe it. Because when you believe it – when you know that you are loved by God – it will change you. It will change your posture, change the way you walk and the way you talk, and give you new vision and hope for the future.

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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