Does God Love Us?

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him.

Psalm 103:11

Last night in my weekly Bible study, we discussed this issue of how at different times we feel, or do not feel, the love of God for us. The nature of life on this earth creates a sense of shame in almost all of us — at least to some degree. All it takes is someone who blames us as a child, a glaring look, the disappointing shake of a head of an authority figure, and a few mistakes under our belts, and there can remain in the recesses of our souls a deep sense of inferiority and unlove. In fact, if they remain in the recesses that would be bad enough, but often they come out and parade across our consciousnesses, intruding in our daily thoughts, and in our prayers.

The Bible says plainly that God loves us, but we still feel unloved. How can we bridge this gap?

Notice the words above — the heart of God is for the ones who fear Him, and it is this fear that we are addressing. Fear is a feeling that we are able to escape from only with great effort. Our fears are invasive, all inclusive, and haunting. The fear of God is in part this awareness of shame in our hearts, of fear that we have disappointed Him, or perhaps are a disappointment to Him.

But the Lord loves those who fear Him. He does not love our unreasonable fear. He does not love the fact of our shame. He knows our hearts, our weaknesses, our self-doubts, our convictions and our worries, but rather than pouring more condemnation on us, He loves us in that moment. It is in His love that He removes our sin, as the next verse says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psa. 103:12).

God never makes sin an insignificant matter, but He does resolve it. He has done so in history through the death of Christ for our sin, and He does so in our experience by proclaiming His love for us. He lifts the burden of shame and guilt off of our hearts and assures us of His love.

But how can we experience this? It is experienced, as all of God’s promises are, through faith. Faith is not only the belief of God’s objective reality and characteristics. It is also belief in His reward to those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). If you want to experience the love of God for you, you must embrace the biblical teaching in faith. You may say it out loud at first, “Lord, I believe that You love me!” and that will help you to believe.

The Lord looks for those who feel the conviction of their sin, and He then convinces us of His grace and love. He lifts us out of the depression of our souls, and sets us clearly before Him that He might fill us with the knowledge of His love. The heavens are high, very high, above the earth. The distances of the outer stars and galaxies are virtually beyond our comprehension, but higher and greater still is the love of God for you. Confess your sin, even your shame. Trust in His love and in the reward of your faith. He loves you.