Feeling Loved
Someone commented recently that we receive God’s love through faith, just as we receive other good things by faith. I pondered that thought and wondered if it was biblical. Is love something that we receive by faith? Or is it mainly an emotion and an experience, such as “I felt God’s love today”?
In many important ways love is not a feeling at all, but it’s something a person does. If you love someone you act in certain ways, regardless of feelings. I can love another person by my actions, even if my feelings are frozen or distressed. Love isn’t dependent on feelings. I can choose to love you even if you act in ways I don’t like. Love is choosing to be patient. Love is choosing to persevere, to hope and to trust (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
Love keeps no record of wrongs. What a challenge that can be! Jesus also told us that if our brother sins against us we should speak to him about it, and take others along if he will not listen. So we’re not to ignore wrongs or allow people to go on sinning without challenging them. But we mustn’t hold grudges or keep repeating stories of how someone sinned against us.
God still loves us, even when we don’t feel it. Of course, God doesn’t suffer from frozen emotions like we do. He feels huge emotions when He thinks of you! Wonderful, warm, welcoming emotions! Zephaniah 3:17 says: ‘He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing’.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me. I choose to believe it in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,”
Ephesians 3:16-18, NIV
Links
Ellel 365 - Online Training School
Healing and the Love of God - Teaching CD
Send to a Friend
Send to a FriendPlease feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.
Grace Marshall is a member of the Ellel Pierrepont team and also works one day a week as a doctor in general practice near Southampton. Previously she was a full-time GP for 15 years and a member of the Ellel associate ministry team and teacher. Her passion is relationship with God and doing anything that will help other people to find that close relationship too.
Ellel Ministries International is a Christian Mission Organisation with a vision of welcoming people, teaching them about the Kingdom of God and healing those in need. read more...
