We all face failures and shortcomings every now and then. We try our hand at something, but fail. We give wholehearted efforts to finishing our tasks, but sometimes something wrong just happens.
When this happens, many of us end up thinking and asking of God loves us still. "Does He really love me?" we ask. "I'm a total failure!" we desperately say.
Some of us might feel like God won't be interested in us anymore, simply because we've failed too many times, or because our list of shortcomings is longer than the distance between the earth and the sun.
Well, that last line might sound or feel true, but still the truth remains:
Nothing can keep us from the love of God through His Son.
"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)
He loves all of you
God's love is undoubtedly unconditional. He said in Jeremiah 31:3,
"Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love..."
God's love for us is eternal. It lasts forever, which means it will never end. Moreover, His love for us has been there even before we were born.
Psalm 139:13-18 confirms this, saying:
"For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You."
Friends, God loved us before we were born. He loved us before we ever did something.
He saw all our days before any one of them came to pass, including the failures and sins we'll be committing on those days, yet He chooses to love us still. He loves us unconditionally.
Perhaps by now we're tempted to think, "can God really love me when I fail, have shortcomings, or do something wrong?"
The answer there, my friend, is a big YES. God's love is what will change us, from failing repeatedly to succeeding continually. Romans 2:4 tells us that His kindness changes us:
"Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?"
His love and grace will take us from where we are and transform us into a people that He wants us to be: holy, righteous, Godly, just, and zealous for good works:
"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works." (Titus 2:11-14)
More than just interested
Friend, God is more than just interested in you even when you think you're a total failure. He sees the end from the beginning (see Isaiah 46:10). While we're stuck feeling self-pity over our failures and shortcomings, God is looking forward to transforming us into being like Christ:
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)
God is more than just interested in us, friends. He is interested in taking our failures and turning them into stories of victory. He is interested in our shortcomings so He can be seen working through us. He is interested in our imperfections because He's perfect.
I leave you with this passage from 2 Corinthians 12:8-10.
"Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
