You Are Loved!
Pastor Dave Monreal, Lead Pastor
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (Colossians 3:12-14)
If I could sit down with you face to face and tell you one thing, it would be this, “God loves you!” Over the last ten years the most transformational reality in my life has been that reality moving from my head to become the settled conviction of my heart.
It is the overwhelming love of the Father in Christ that is the motivation for us to live lives of holiness and to share the Good News of the cross! It is the love of God that reminds us who we are in Him and what He has done for us in Christ. Let me share with you three ways God’s love changes us.
1. We are chosen by God You and I are chosen by God to be made like His Son and to be the objects of His affection. He is our Father and we are adopted into His family and receive the rights of Sonship! We are not orphans who have to figure out life on our own. We have not been left to our own devices.
2. Forgive just as you have been forgiven in Christ Paul again points us to the reality of the cross. He says in essence, “Think of all of your sin in its entirety. It is like being forgiven a debt of $10,000,000,000.00. Now in comparison think of the sins that others commit against you. It can be compared to someone owing you $20.00. If God through Christ has forgiven you for every sin you have or will ever committed how can you not forgive the few sins that others have committed against you?
3. Love as the ones beloved by God You are the objects of God’s affection. The Father calls you His beloved! The Bible says that we are to “put on love.” It is as if love is the outer covering that covers and brings together all the gospel “clothes” that we are to put on. But we love because He first loved us. So if you are struggling with loving others you need to run back to Jesus and be reminded of the Father’s love. Love for others is not something we generate in our hearts by sheer willpower but is the supernatural result of resting in the love of God.
