Does God love me?

That story that Jesus tells us in Luke chapter fifteen – some call it the prodigal son. It’s not a story about one son though, it’s about two sons, one who learned from his mistakes and one who didn’t.  Both sons started out believing the same lie, and it’s a lie so many of us continue to believe today. Neither of them believed that their father truly loved them. And even though we are Christians, we have recognized our need of a Savior, and have come to know that Jesus died for us, we too, all too often, do not believe that the father loves us.

The main problem is how we think being loved should express itself. When my husband and I were courting, he would demonstrate his love for me by buying me gifts, by communicating regularly with me, by taking me out to places that he knew I would enjoy. Now that we are married he demonstrates his love by giving my feet a massage, by making sure that he continues to communicate well, and by doing things like washing the dishes after I have spent a long-time baking goodies for us to enjoy. I demonstrate my love for each of my daughters, son-in-law, and grandkids by spending time buying them a good gift for their birthdays and for Christmas.

If I was sick, and my husband had the medicine that would make me better and yet he would not give it to me, I would probably wonder if he really loved me. Follow that line of thinking to our relationship with the Lord who we believe can heal anything. And it’s not just healing – God could get me the job that I want; God could get me into the school that I want to get in to; God can get people to buy my books that I have written; and the list is endless. We feel blessed by the Lord, loved by the Lord, when we get something that we want, something that we have prayed for, something that we believe is important. And then we can feel that God doesn’t love us if we don’t get the job, don’t get the healing, don’t get the relationship, don’t get that thing we have been praying for.

The younger son, in the story in Luke chapter fifteen, thought that the father wouldn’t give him what he wanted, so he decided to go and get it for himself. Only problem was that spending all his father’s money didn’t bring him the happiness that he had expected it would. Then he was wise enough to recognize that he was better off with his father than he was anywhere else. He returned to his father and received his love. The older brother, however, stayed home and was faithful to his father, but he didn’t believe that his father wanted him to have a good time either. He kept trying to do the right thing, and be a good and loyal son, but his father never gave him a party or encouraged him to celebrate with his friends. Not surprisingly the older brother was not very happy when his younger sibling returned home and was blessed with a powerful demonstration of love from their father. Why didn’t he get that? The truth was that his father had made wonderful provision for his older son, he just hadn’t taken advantage of it. And Jesus leaves this story open ended, with no indication of whether the older brother would embrace his father’s love or not.

I remember praying for a particular position years ago that I never received. It wasn’t too big of a deal, but I had asked, and I had expected the Lord to respond to my asking, yet nothing ever happened. I didn’t get the position, and I never understood why. It was like God ignored me. Does that mean that he doesn’t love me?

We must look elsewhere for an answer to that question. The first place has to be when Jesus willingly gave his life so that I, and countless others, could have a relationship with God. And when I want to make it more just about me, I turn to thanksgiving, and recall blessing after blessing that I personally have received from the Lord. I turn to the Bible too, and prayer, recognizing that the closer I come to the Lord the more I am aware of his love for me and for everyone else.

Not believing that God loves us causes us to do some silly things. If I think that God doesn’t want me to have any fun, I might ignore him and try and make my own fun. Possibly including things that I know are wrong. If I think I must perform for God to love me, the things that I do might appear to be positive, but they could be destroying my joy, my witness, and my life.

If you want to know more of God’s love for you, spend more time with him. Yes in Bible study and prayer, but also walking in his creation, chatting with him about all the good things that he has provided for you to enjoy. Believe that he has good things for you – because he really does.