Many of us are in prisons without walls. Those prisons are self-made places of confinement that we have constructed in our minds. Built over time, we believe that because of some of the things we have done in our lives, God could never love us. The devil whispers to us, \u201cGod could never love someone who has had an abortion, abused drugs, gotten divorced or hooked up on a regular basis.\u201d As usual, the devil\u2019s got it wrong!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the amazing things about God\u2019s love is that He loves us despite <\/em>who we are, not because <\/em>of who we are. That is radical grace. We all have spent too many years trying to be <\/em>someone who was worthy of another\u2019s love. We\u2019ve tried to earn love from our parents, our boyfriends, the people we work with, drug dealers, and our bosses. We\u2019ve worked hard to be rich enough, pretty enough, or tough enough to deserve their attention and love. God\u2019s love works differently. God sent His own Son to die for us while <\/em>we were still sinners. (See Romans 5:8, But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.<\/em>) Even when we were selling dope, cheating on our income taxes or worse\u2026God loved us. He doesn\u2019t say to us, \u201cStraighten yourself up and clean yourself off and then <\/em>I\u2019ll take a look at you.\u201d No. He loves us as we are\u2014period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another amazing thing about God\u2019s love is that it\u2019s extravagant, over-the-top. God doesn\u2019t skimp on love. He shows His love by sending His own Son\u2014not some low-level flunky\u2014to die for us. He sent His own Son\u2014His only <\/em>Son\u2014to die for us. Most of us have never experienced that kind of unconditional love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That unconditional love is life-changing. It offers forgiveness and gives us value, hope, and peace. When it seems dark in our bedrooms are 3 A.M., we can hear His voice calling our name, saying, \u201cI love you just the way you are. Come to Me. Accept My love. My Son has covered your sin.\u201d Who wouldn\u2019t want to say yes to that kind of love?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many of us are in prisons without walls. Those prisons are self-made places of confinement that we have constructed in our minds. Built over time, we believe that because of some of the things we have done in our lives, God could never love us. The devil whispers to us, \u201cGod could never love someone who has had an abortion, … <\/p>\n