God's Love for Us
- Brooke Singleton
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
“He gave His gift so we could live our lives in constant awareness that He loved us first: that He can’t help it, can’t stop it, can’t lessen its intensity, because it’s who He is.”
“For this is the way God loved the world- he gave his only, unique son as a gift. So now everyone who believes in him will never perish but experience everlasting life.” John 3:16 TPT
Love received, love reflected. This statement makes me think of our kids…however unique, they are without a doubt, reflections of ourselves, amiright? And Jesus was a beautifully, perfect reflection of His Father, a Father that is Love. It’s easy to skim over our verse today because of familiarity (John 3:16 is the most searched verse at 2.1 million googles) but if we’re willing to look at it afresh, it’s wild and wondrous, radical and ridiculous.
God gave His only and uniquely qualified son, to destroy the impenetrable separation that stood looming between us and Him. He sacrificed His exact likeness to finish the battle we didn’t even have the right weapons to fight.
I’m reading in Jeremiah right now, and 600 years before Jesus God told us all He would do through His gift of Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah 31:33-34 says, “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people…for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them…for I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.” (CSB) Momma, He didn’t rescue us because we’d earned it, because we’d ever made a step toward Him. He did it because of who He is. He is self-sacrificing, dependable love. God goes on to remind us in His own words in Jeremiah, that we are precious to Him, a delightful child, that His thoughts are always about us and that His inner being yearns for us (isn’t that wild!)
Girls. Jesus’ love is ridiculous. Ridiculous. Undeserved. Undeterred. Unrelenting. And our whole purpose, the very reason God created us, was not for us to produce, convert, attain, or be useful to someone, it was simply…to allow Him to love you…and He will do the rest in and through us. He gave His gift so we could live our lives in constant awareness that He loved us first: that He can’t help it, can’t stop it, can’t lessen its intensity, because it’s who He is.
That, sister, is everlasting life, the ultimate gift…and it starts now. It starts by allowing Him full reign in our hearts; by releasing our death grips on control, our immovable belief that we’ll never be worthy of love, our nagging mantra that we should be able to do more, try harder, be better. It’s only in receiving that gift of love, that He can reflect it to our kids and the people around us and make much of His Great Name.
Today, sit in His love for you. Re-read that last paragraph. This week we’re going to make this practical, together.
Faith Follow-Through:
This week, take some time to grow in motherhood and faith:
Tuesday:
Accepting His Love
If I were a betting woman, I’d say most of us resist Gods love without realizing it. So today, we’re giving up the resistance. Receiving love isn’t about trying harder…it’s about making room. I think it often feels like exhaling. Like taking off a heavy backpack.
Today, sit for 2 minutes in the quiet. Take some deep breaths and repeat, “God, you love me… not because I am good, but because You are.”
When your mind argues with that grace - “but I lost my temper,” or, “I’m failing”, just respond with “and You still love me fiercely.”
Remember, God yearns for His wayward children. His heart is always for us to come near and just be with Him, be loved by Him, at our best and at our worst.
Wednesday:
Abiding in His Love
The trick today is lingering, not one-and-done rushing…the hardest, right? I think humans in general are great at receiving info, but not so much at staying with it. The “staying with it” is what the bible calls abiding and abiding goes against the fiber of our distracted culture. But we can abide or “stay with” God’s love on the move. On our way to practices, in the office, making dinner, changing the 2am diaper. Abiding is acknowledging in our moments, that the same God who restores us in our still pauses, is also present with us in our activity. Like Jeremiah 23:23 reminds us “I am a God who is only near and not a God who is far away.”
In the middle of your moments today, slowly breathe in and out. Picture God looking at you as you’re living, not correcting, not disappointed, just...with you.
Think, “I don’t need to do anything right now. I am loved in this moment because I am His.” When distractions cloud out that thought, don’t criticize yourself, just think it again and stay with it.
It’s worth the reminder that sometimes we feel God's presence in these moments, and sometimes nothing at all. But the Truth says He is always with you, and Love often works quietly.
Thursday:
Reflecting His Love
My Nana loved me relentlessly; she wanted my presence and took joy in me just being. Because of her unwavering love, to this day I can tell you, in my eyes, she could do no wrong. She reflected the love of God to my young heart, and I learned how to be loved through her presence, not her perfection. When we allow ourselves to receive God’s love and stick to practicing His presence, we make the invisible God, visible to our kids.
I write this as we’re snowed in on a Level 3 snow storm. The kids did great this morning, but we’ve moved on to boredom and now picking at each other, so I speak from in-the-minute-experience: When you feel frustration rising, say “God you delight in me being, right now. Let me respond from that place.” 5-10 second pauses rewire our response…it’s science.
When our kids experience calm, mercy, and steadiness from us, they’re tasting the love of God, a love that isn’t fragile, that doesn’t disappear when mistakes happen. The more time we sit in His love for us and carry that perspective with us, the more we’ll trust that God doesn’t love us AFTER we get it right, He yearns for us even when we’re struggling. Remember momma, we reflect God’s love best not by being a perfect parent, but by being a parent who keeps returning to love, just like God keeps returning to us.
Written by Brooke, mom of 3
