WHY I LOVE MY CHILDREN

Please stay with me to the end of this article.

I love my children and grandchildren. I love them when they get good grades, when they work hard doing their chores, and when they’re respectful. But when they don’t perform well, then I quit loving them. My love for my kids and grands is totally conditional, based on their performance.

Of course NONE OF THIS IS TRUE! I love them the same whether they get F’s or A’s in school; when they’re disrespectful as well as respectful; and when they do shoddy work. No matter what, my love for them never changes. Certainly they displease me at times, but my love is unconditional.

I love them for one simple reason: Because they’re mine. That’s it. I loved them when they were still in the womb. I loved them from the moment I saw them, and that will never change. God placed a love in my heart for my kids and grandkids, because they are mine.

This is the basic story of God and Israel in the Old Testament. Israel repeatedly rejected God, but his love for them remained constant, even when he disciplined them. Jeremiah 31:1 states, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”  From eternity to eternity, God loves his people.

This theme also permeates the New Testament. Ephesians 1:4 declares, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ.”

Why would we ever feel we need to perform better to impress God? There’s nothing we could ever do to cause God to love us any more or any less. His pure, unconditional love motivates us to live holy lives. He’s your Papa, your Abba, and he loves you just the way you are. For one simple reason: because you are his.

Ponder:

• How do you feel knowing God loves you simply because you’re his?

• What action does this motivate you to want to take?

Pursue: For a deeper dive, study Ephesians 1:3-14.

 Dear Father, words fail me when I try to express my gratitude for your eternal love. Please help me to live in a constant awareness of your great love.

(Photo courtesy of: Love--Robert J Sternberg)