Day Six: Perfectly Loved
Read
What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one--for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one--for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, "For your sake, we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.") No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow--not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below--indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
— Rom. 8:31-39 NLT
Devotional
John 3 tells us that when God sent his Son to die as a sacrifice for those whom he would call his children, he did so out of love. Love was his primary motivation. Can you imagine that? He gave his own Son up to face a brutal death on the cross for…you. All for the hope of calling you home. He sent His own Son to die to save us and to set us apart. So, no one could accuse us or hold us guilty of our sins, not even ourselves.
God's love for us is so great that it can never be separated from us. It is steadfast, sure, and eternal. Whether or not we "feel" it or feel undeserving of it, it is always with us. Even our own perceived "imperfections" work to ensure that we rely more on his perfection to experience an abundant life than we do on ourselves. Because of God's perfect love for His children, we know that nothing we face could ever defeat us. He always fills the gap for us and fills our cracks with love.
That is the beauty of being perfectly imperfect. If it were just us, all this would be impossible. But not with God. With our powerful, loving, and faithful God, nothing is impossible for us who believe and belong to Him.
Prayer
Father, I don't even know how to fully express my deep gratitude for your love, for the love that saved me. I know how grateful I am for it. I know that your love never fails. It is always there. Like a light shining in a lighthouse, it is a steady guide in the darkness. It always leads me home. I love you, Lord. I cannot thank you enough for loving me enough to call me your own. But I can live in honor of your sacrifice to claim me. And that is precisely what I will do, in Jesus' name. Amen!