A Pretty Big Deal by Megan MarshmanSample

Day 2: You Can’t Earn God’s Love

Does God's opinion of you change based on how well you are following the rules? Have you ever wondered if maybe God would love you a little more if you behaved a bit better? Or at least, perhaps if you tried harder, God would like you a little more. I've been there, and let me tell you, this line of thinking is exhausting.

When I tried to be good enough to earn God's love, I ended up spending my life striving and working for something impossible. No matter how hard I tried, I kept making mistakes over and over again. But then I realized something earth-shattering; I would never be good enough to earn God's love. Ouch, that hurts to read. But at the same time, if we cannot make God love us anymore through our behavior, then maybe what we do will not make God love us any less either.

Think about it this way; at some point today, it crossed your mind to spend time in God's Word and get to know Him a little more. And that's great! But just because you are reading the Scriptures today does not mean God loves you more than He did yesterday. In the same way, if you wake up tomorrow and decide to skip day three of this devo, God will still be wild about you. He will love you just the same.

God's delight in you has nothing to do with you actually doing anything. Instead, God's pleasure in you has everything to do with who you are and the person you are becoming. Today, take a moment to consider what it means to be loved for who you are instead of what you do. In what ways do you lean on your behavior to earn the love of those around you and, ultimately, try to earn God's love?