“He loves me… He loves me not…,” says the wishful little girl dreaming of Prince Charming as she plucks petals aimlessly from a quickly withering flower. (Photo via Flickr Hive Mind)

Sounds sappy, right!?! But how many of us, at one time or another, could attest to doing something similar? HaHa! Go ahead and admit it. You’re such a hopeless romantic!

Well, all cuteness aside, how many of us have done something similar with God? Rather than plucking petals from a flower, we pluck moments from our lives and analyze them. “Oh, I read my bible today! He loves me!” Or, “Oh no, I just lost it in a fit of anger. He loves me not.”

I don’t know about you, but I used to live like this. Ups and downs. Circles and cycles. All based upon my behavior. I viewed God through the lenses of my actions. For years I tried to be a good girl so I could earn God’s love and favor and blessings. The problem was I could never be good enough. I didn’t understand who I was in Christ Jesus and who God the Father was to me.

So, if you’ve ever thought like this, let’s cancel out that lie from the enemy right now! Let’s view God, not through the lenses of our actions, but through the lenses  of Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross for us. God is the author and source of love.

GOD IS LOVE! AND WE ARE THE SUBJECT OF HIS LOVE! WE ARE HIS BELOVED!

“By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” –1 John 4:9-10

We can see here that it’s not even because we love God or we’ve done something special to earn God’s love. But when we truly realize who God is, then we can know who we are. God demonstrated to us ‘no greater love’ through Jesus Christ. Jesus left the Father and the paradise of heaven to come to the earth to die, in order that we might live. There’s no greater love than this, so look no further.

Look to Jesus! He is our advocate! He intercedes on our behalf! He fights for us! And He’s coming back for His bride, His glorious church! There’s your prince! The Prince of Peace, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords!

1 John 4 in verse 12 goes on to say, “His love is perfected in us.” The word perfected here means ‘made complete‘. I’m here to tell you that Jerry McGuire stole his famous line straight from the bible. You know the one… “You complete me.” And all our hearts melted and tears came to our eyes when Renee Zellweger replied with, “You had me at hello.”

Listen. God is standing at your heart’s door right now saying to you…

“My love is perfected in you. You are My Beloved. As you abide in My love, you abide in Me and I abide in you. Don’t worry about your dirty rags. My love covers a multitude of sins and I will transform your rags into a garment as white as snow. Receive and rest in My love right now as I shower it upon you, cleansing you from the inside out. My love is made complete in you.“

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world… We love, because He first loved us.” –1 John 15-19