Living Lessons on Setting the MindSample

First John 4:7-8 teaches us a wonderful truth: “God is love.”  God does not have love or just do love, He is love; love is His essence; love is all that He is and all that can come forth from Him. This is a huge concept, often misunderstood.  All over the world people mistakenly see God as uncaring, wrathful, a punisher; someone to fear. It’s common for people to mistake their own consequences as punishment, and think God is angry. Such views of God are evidence that many do not really know Him and are projecting human attributes onto Him. God cannot do anything but love. 

As humans, our perspective on situations is so limited. We get tangled up in questions such as, “Why does a good God let bad things happen?” We focus on our “whys” and argue over how God fits into the situations of life instead of realizing that He is love and knows what is best far beyond what we can see or know. It seems easier to argue and/or refuse to give in to God than to cry out to Him for comfort and trust Him. 

I learned to take God at His word—that He is love—as various difficulties came into my life. Three of my children had major illnesses when they were small—one with a heart condition, two with seizures. I had to trust God for food, milk, bills, and income while in the ministry. I went through a divorce and a very painful move from the place I called home. During any of these painful events, it would have been easy to believe God is not love because the circumstances, and sometimes the relationships, felt painful at the time, but with each I chose to believe that He knows best and can do nothing that is not love. I have never found God lacking in comfort or provision. He has never let me down; He has never left me.

If you can get hold of how truly loving God is, intimacy will flourish because you will see that He is all-powerful, all-loving, and in control of all that comes into your life—He cares more than you can even imagine. (We will look at this concept further in the next chapter.) When we are born of God and know His love, we are able to love others with that kind of love.  

Application: 

There is nothing you can do to make God love you more; there is nothing you can do to make God love you less. There is no good deed that can get God to love you more than He already does; there is no sin that you can do that will keep, or stop, God from loving you. Hold on to that when you are not sure about circumstances in your life! He knows best.