Consent to God’s Love

I grew up feeling very loved by my parents and family.

I was nurtured and celebrated throughout my childhood. I thank God often because I know this is not everyone’s experience. On the flip side, I was often called a goody-two-shoes and felt the need to be near perfect for most of my life.

At church, as a child, the message I heard was that God loved me if I was good and only if I did everything that He said. When I did not do what He said then that would cause Him to be angry with me and punish me. There just wasn’t much talk of repentance or God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness.

Fast forward to today and I still sometimes struggle with embracing God’s love for myself. I know in my head that He loves me. Some days I even know it in my heart. But I have often struggled to overcome feelings of condemnation, guilt, and shame.

I have been reading and studying the book of Romans. Romans 5 discusses God’s grace and how we are saved by grace and not by our own works. One part of the commentary of Romans 5:1 said that grace should cause us “…to believe, and consent to be loved while unworthy…”

When I tell you this hit me like a ton of bricks!

Something about the word consent really ministered to me. The definition of consent is “permission for something to happen or agreement to do something.”

The commentator said to consent to be loved while unworthy. We must agree with God’s love for us in order to accept it and embrace it. Our worthiness or lack thereof is not a factor.

I believe that in the past, I would go to God so consumed with how unworthy I am of his love and of things I’ve done wrong that I couldn’t really receive his love for me. I couldn’t agree with it because I didn’t believe I deserved it.

My eyes were focused on myself and my actions rather than focusing on Him and the fact that He is love.

The commentator also said, “God’s present attitude towards the believer in Christ Jesus is one of favor, seeing them in terms of joy, beauty, and pleasure. He doesn’t just love us; He likes us because we are in Jesus.”

Wow! How amazing is this?! God, the holy perfect, and flawless creator of the universe likes me?

There’s something special about being liked. It’s one thing to be loved because sometimes we can feel that we are loved by someone out of obligation. For example, a parent loving a child is pretty obligatory. But when you like someone it seems to say more. It is an eyes wide open choice.

It says I see exactly who You Are -sins, shortcomings and all, and I still like you. I definitely love you. There are just no words for how beautiful this is. What a breathtaking reflection of God’s faithfulness and heart toward His people.

Psalm 145:8 the AMPC version says, “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and loving-kindness.”

God abounds in mercy and loving-kindness.

This says to me means that God is overflowing with an abundance of love in action (loving-kindness) toward us. It does not say -only if we deserve it. God has a long track record in the Bible of showing kindness, mercy, and grace to those who do not deserve it. This does not mean that we do not reap what we sow, or that there are no consequences for our sins.

But it does mean that God is merciful and forgiving. It also means that His love does not end when our sins begin.

I encourage you today to consent to God’s love for you. Acknowledge it, accept it, and embrace it. Run to Him knowing that he likes you.

Run to Him knowing that He loves you because you are in Jesus. Let down the walls around your heart and agree with His love for you despite your unworthiness.  I believe there is so much freedom to be had when we truly embrace this concept.

It’s not even worth thinking about. But when we embrace that He loves us, we are more likely to obey Him simply out of gratitude for his unmerited love and grace.

We are also freer then to love ourselves which inevitably improves our relationships with others. People who love God and love themselves move about in the world with such peace and grace. They are not worried, insecure, or fearful because they know the God of the universe is overflowing with love for them.

I strive every day to be in the place that I’m so in love with Jesus. This helps me to freely lavish love others and even myself. I hope you do too. Imagine how much better our world would be if we all can send it to God’s love and let that love flow out into others.

Let’s pray.

Awesome Father, we thank you for your great love. We thank you, God, that you choose to love us even though we do not deserve it. Thank you, God, for your grace, your mercy, and your loving-kindness. You are worthy of all glory honor and praise. We pray today that we would consent to your love. That we would open our hearts and allow them to blossom underneath the rays of your shining love. We pray that we would allow that love to flow out onto others as we love ourselves.

In Jesus name,

Amen.

PS If you don’t know Jesus as your personal savior He longs to come into your heart and have a personal relationship with you.

Romans 10:9 says, If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. NLT

Pray this prayer:

Lord Jesus, I come to you humbly asking you to forgive my sins. I believe that you died and rose again three days later to pay for my sins. Thank you for dying for me.  Please Lord, come into my heart. I give control of my life over to you. Please God, from this moment forward help me to live for you and do your will. Thank you Lord, that now I am saved. I no longer have to fear death. Please help me be all you made me to be. 

In Jesus name,

Amen.