How to trust God’s love for you

Have you ever wondered how to trust God’s love for you? We know he loves us, but we don’t really trust it much if we’re really honest with ourselves.

We question every trial, unanswered prayer, challenging circumstance wondering how could God let us go through this if he loves us. We easily trigger in abandonment, rejection, isolation and doubt. Surely, if God loves us, he’d keep us cocooned from harm and give us a smooth sailing life?

The experiences we’ve had with people in our lives, from parents, siblings, friends, teachers, spiritual leaders, etc…, have created filters through which we look at God. Thes filters distort God’s love for us and place on it many conditions and what if’s. None of which is true.

Furthermore, we measure ourselves against other people’s opinions, societal norms, and religious expectations only to find we fall short. We forget mistakes and messes are the critical part of life lessons learned. On and on we go being our worst enemy and badgering ourselves in a constant flow of self-judgment and self-hate.

Maybe God sees us with a much healthier and loving perspective than we see ourselves.

Maybe. Just maybe. God does love us and allows life to happen so we have a strong character able to endure and carry the magnitude of his master plans for us. Each challenge and unanswered prayer becomes an opportunity to experience a characteristic of God’s Father heart we’ve not yet experienced.

A deeper look at God’s love for you

Do you remember your artistic creations as a child? The joy of putting on paper your creative imaginations was unshakeable. You couldn’t wait for people to see your drawings and remark at how marvelous they were. It didn’t matter to you that your creative drawings were squiggles and stick figures (aka symbolic drawings). It was all about the process of drawing and seeing your vision become something tangible.

When God created you, He experienced a greater joy than you did.  You are the result of a masterplan. A work of art designed with intent and much thought. As Holy Spirit hovered over the nothing of the earth, he was planning the details of your life. He knew you were his answer for some of the world’s questions at this time in history.

God is unshakeable in his love for you. He gives his love to you “no strings attached”. How could he not love you? You are his exquisite creation.

(You can read my post on God loving us in our messes here and my post on Your worth here.)

How do you trust God’s love for you?

Trusting God’s love for you is faith in action, standing in the belief that God loves you deeper than you can comprehend. This trust is a daily journey of overcoming doubt and our own insecurities.

#1 Find out how God shows you his love

Ask him. This is part of prayer. Lord, help me to see the daily acts of love you send my way.

And without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

Submerge yourself in Scripture. Ask God to help you as you study the Scripture and see how much God loves and delights in you. As you do this, invite the Holy Spirit to help you work through those moments of doubt or unworthy. (Jesus has made you worthy of God’s love and pleasure.)

#2 How do you experience love?

God knows your love language and often uses it to speak his love to you. One of my dominant love languages is touch and in God’s presence, my skin often feels warm as if someone is wrapping an arm around me. Peace floods my heart along with the unshakeable knowledge that I am loved. This is a way God uses my love language to show me his love.

What about you?

#3 Make a choice.

Throughout life, we face countless choices. Trusting God’s love is no different. When all is said and done we are faced with two choices:

1. Believe God loves us unconditionally
2. Give in to our doubt

One choice leads to peace and hope; whereas, the other brings despair and disappointment.

#4 Throw away the yardstick

Earlier I mentioned how we often measure ourselves based on people’s opinions, societal norms, religious expectations, and personal relationships, all of which is the yardstick we use when questioning God’s love for us. God’s love for you is determined by his redemptive nature. Thus, we need to throw away our yardstick and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us by the hand straight to the Father’s heart.

The problem with having a yardstick is this: no one measures up. It becomes a tool of religion and legalism robbing you of the freedom and beauty of God’s love and grace.

Ask Holy Spirit to help you renew your mind and perspective so that you can see yourself through his eyes.