It’s not uncommon to hear this phrase when we’re talking to others about Christ. If someone has come from a rough background, or is maybe still struggling with addictions or the effects of bad life decisions, it can certainly be a powerful message.
If someone hasn’t felt much love in their life, or can’t imagine that God would love them because of their past, this is, indeed, a pretty comforting statement. And perhaps it is what they need to hear in that moment.
However, let’s look below the surface of this statement and see if we can get a fuller, deeper understanding of God’s love for us.
But first, I need to talk about … us. That’s right, we humans. Since the beginning of time, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit, sin entered the world affecting everything and everyone.
As much as we’d love to believe we came into this world sinless, and were consequently “defiled” by that world, the Bible teaches the exact opposite. We are all born with a sin nature compliments of Adam. If you question that, have you met a 2-year-old lately? Do you think they needed to be taught how to throw a temper tantrum. Nope!
Getting more personal, don’t we all struggle with areas of sin in our lives? Granted, we may not be committing felonies on a regular basis, but we clearly are not living perfect lives. We simply can’t. It’s not in our [sin] nature. Even an impure or selfish motive is sin against a holy God.
Why am I dragging all of this up? Because we need to understand our position before God to fully appreciate his love for us.
Does God really love us just the way we are? Yes and no. Yes, God loves us. He created us in his image. How great must his love be to do that? And the thief on the cross had only to acknowledge Jesus as the true Son of God in order to see Jesus that day in Paradise. No time for any self-improvement on his part.
However, there’s a little theological process called sanctification that tells us God doesn’t want us to stay exactly where we are. It’s his desire that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will, over time, become more Christ-like.
Because he created us in his image, it makes complete sense that he would want us to allow this work in our lives.
It tells us that God desires for us to have a deeper relationship with him. It means allowing him to chip off some of those rough edges and give us a heart that longs to be more like Christ.
Are you starting to see how my title statement is losing a bit of its luster?
Today’s topic is the result of a statement our pastor made a few weeks ago in one of his sermons, and it has stuck with me to the point of making it into today’s post.
While addressing the concept of God loving us just as we are, he said the more accurate, more powerful, more humbling statement is this:
God loves us in spite of who we are.
Does that give you a little pause? Does it make you want to chew on it for a few moments? Do you see the difference between the two statements?
Which one puts you more in awe of this holy God? Which one gives you the desire to let God move you forward on your Christian walk? Which one is truly more humbling?
Which one is more accurate? Which one makes you feel more loved? Which one makes you more grateful?
When we clearly understand our position before this holy God, I think we have to land on the “in spite of” statement. It’s the ultimate definition of unconditional love. God loves us because he chooses to. We are his creation. He is the epitome of love.
He proved it by sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins so that we could spend a perfect eternity with him.
Spend some time this week thanking God for his boundless love for you. Which is exactly why he desires to sanctify us for his purposes. May that become the desire of our heart as well.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body
be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:23