Recently, I was given the task of being a youth mentor at my church... and one of my responsibilities include leading my group for bible study. I wasn't too sure about this - after all, what exactly do I talk about with them? How do I do this?
I was asking myself this question (and, I must admit, getting myself into a bit of a panic) when I remembered something that happened a few months ago... when God asked me the question: "if you had one chance to share just one message with people, what would it be?" I realised that my "chance" had come. The following, I suppose, is this "one message" - the one thing that I consider crucial for every person to understand, whether they are seasoned Christians or unbelievers... the "one message" that will make a difference in someone's life. And this is the message that I will be sharing for my first bible study session.
The message is about the love of God. It is a simple message, God did not intend for this to be rocket science. It is simply this: God loves you.
Every Christian understands that God loves us. In our church, we are told to "greet the person next to you by saying 'Jesus loves you'." Children in Sunday school sing the song "Jesus loves me, this I know". We are reminded, again and again, that God loves us... so much that the phrase "Jesus loves you" has become a by-word, a cliche that is thrown about. Do you understand the full implications of this? Do you understand what this means, for you, your life, and everything that you do? Or are you stuck in the same cycle, wondering: "Yes, Jesus loves me... but so what?"
Allow me to expound a little further.
God loved you from the beginning.
You are a creation of God, and before you were born He knew you... and loved you. Genesis tells us that you were created in His likeness... and after He created you, He looked at you, and liked what He saw. In fact, you could say that He fell in love. He loves you so much that He, the Creator and King of the heavens, decided you were worth dying for.
Your sins didn't stop Him loving you.
Romans 5:8 tells us: "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
I can still remember a time when I was (perhaps due to my perfectionist nature) getting upset with myself for my inabilities and limitations... I couldn't live up to my own standards, couldn't keep my goals, and felt like I was failing in every aspect of my life. God pointed this verse out to me, and reminded me that He didn't wait for me to become perfect before demonstrating His love for me. He knew I'm not perfect, but that didn't stop Him. How amazing that He wasn't put off by how tainted and sinful I am!
Your sins (or indeed anything else) will never stop Him loving you.
Romans 8:35 asks the question: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?"
Hmm... good question. There have indeed been times, I must admit, when I felt separate from the love of Christ. There has been times, the difficult seasons in my life, when I felt I could sympathise with Job when he said "if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him."
This question is answered a few verses later, in Romans 8:38-39: "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
I think, for Christians, it is this last point that we most easily forget... and yet this is the one point that can have a huge impact on the way we live and the way we stand up to adversity. Don't get me wrong - this does not mean that we can do whatever we like. And it does not mean that because God loves us, nothing bad will ever happen to us. What it does mean is that we can be secure in Him. Absolute security, written in stone, firm as a rock.
Jesus loves me... so what?
The issue of how we respond to God's love is perhaps somewhat a separate topic, to be considered another time... but I do believe that how well we respond to God's love depends on how aware we are of God's love for us. So here is my challenge, to you as well as to myself: know that God loves you, unequivocally, in every circumstance. Each morning, remind yourself that nothing the world produces today can separate you from His love. Each time you repent, remember that God who is righteous, loved you while you were still a sinner. Each time you serve or minister, remember what John said: "We love, because He first loved us". Each time you face a challenge, whether it is a difficult customer, difficult boss, or some monumental exam... remember that nothing separates you from His love. Each time you feel rejected by someone, remember that God didn't reject you. Each time you look up at the sky, stars, flowers, trees... remember that the God who created all these loved you enough to die for you.
In short, my challenge is this: remember, at all times, in all circumstances, that God loves you.
It is not as easy as it sounds. But do it, persist in it... and you will realise that everything else becomes unimportant in comparison... and realise how liberating it is - that when He sets you free, you are free indeed!
