His Beloved Child

I was recently having a week where I felt overwhelmed with the blessings and favor of God. I felt He had been so gracious and good to me, and I was keenly aware of the fact that I didn’t deserve any of it. I hadn’t been the best Christian, wife, or mother, and I certainly didn’t have the best attitude. I had a constant feeling in the back of my mind that I just hadn’t done enough of whatever it is one is supposed to do in order to be deserving of God’s goodness.

I was chatting with my mom about it, and her response stopped me in my tracks: “Karen, don’t ever think that you don’t deserve blessings. Does Lily “deserve” it when you do something that makes her happy? No. But it thrills you to see her smile and laugh.”

Maybe this should go under “sermons from Sue” rather than “lessons from Lily” since the wise words came from my momma this time.

Her message especially resonated with me on this particular day because of Lily’s disposition at the time. She was in a full-blown toddler mood; kicking and throwing herself on the floor when I told her “no” to anything she wanted to do or have (which was only for her own safety). But she is my daughter, and I love her! I would never withhold my goodness, love, or affection from her just because she was grumpy or not behaving perfectly. Sure, there are times I discipline her, within reason, to help teach a valuable lesson for her benefit, but that too is done out of love.

God’s love and goodness towards us is not dependent on our behavior or performance. Now, there is a spiritual truth that we will reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7), and we shouldn’t think we will never experience natural consequences for certain actions. But that is not what I’m talking about here. I am talking about the unmerited favor of God, and the lovingkindness that He delights in bestowing on His children. There is truly nothing we can do by our own human efforts to earn God’s grace, and there is nothing we could ever do to cause Him to love us more or less than He does right now. The Bible says, “The Lord longs to be gracious to you, and He will rise up to show you compassion” (Isaiah 30:18).

The perfectly Holy, omniscient God, creator of the entire universe, looks upon us in His great love & mercy and calls us His own. May we never get used to that! Live as His beloved child today, for that is what you are.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1

1 John 3:1