Love Changes Everything
By Kelly Chesnut, Wycliffe USA Deeply Rooted Coordinator
Post date: July 15, 2019
Over the years, I’ve shared the truth of God’s unconditional love with others, and I’ve seen lives changed as a result of his lavish love and grace. While I shared that truth so readily with others, I didn’t always live it out personally.
For years I let the enemy convince me that I had to earn God’s love. While I knew I was a “new creation” in Christ, every time I messed up, I felt insecure in God’s love for me. I allowed my identity to be rooted in my performance (or lack thereof), not in the grace and unconditional love of God. It wasn’t until my mid-20s that I realized I had the wrong perspective of that love.
I had followed Jesus for so long. How could I have misunderstood his love and grace toward me personally? How did I miss the invitation to simply receive his love? Why did I add conditions to it?
One thing I do know is that I’m so grateful God opened my eyes!
But I’m not the only believer who’s tried to earn God’s love or has struggled to understand his grace. We live in a society where things have to be earned — money, respect, acceptance or even love.
Yet, God invites us to receive his love. When we stop striving and simply receive, his Spirit changes us from the inside out. God’s love establishes itself permanently within our souls and exerts its power over us.
To live loved means we receive God’s love and respond to it — not strive to earn it. When we realize our identities are in Christ alone, his love fills our hearts and minds as we trust him. No matter what we do or don’t do, Christ’s love for us is unshakeable. It’s a love that changes everything!
Since Christ’s love is rooted in his mercy, grace and truth, it sets us free to be who God created us to be. Living loved means experiencing the fullness of life that comes as God’s grace continues to transform every part of us.
Questions for Reflection:
In what ways have you experienced God’s love for you, personally?
What might hinder you from fully experiencing God’s love?
How can you share the lavish grace of God’s love with those around you?
Don’t forget to download this month’s devotional and dive deeper into what it means to live loved by God.
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