10 years ago I became a mom. It’s hard to believe that it has been that long ago! I remember the moment, in all it’s intensity, pain and excitement, when the midwife laid her on my chest. I was an experienced Labor and Delivery nurse at that point, so I had been part of plenty of births and had seen the joy on the faces of the parents, but when I saw my daughter, I was overcome with a depth of love for her that I had never known before.
She was mine.
All that Caroline had done at that moment was breathe a breath of life and yet my love for her was more than I could put words to.
In Matthew 3, Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist. When he came out of the water, heaven was opened and the Spirit of God descended on Jesus like a dove and God’s voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
God declared his love for his son and his pleasure in him.
At this point, Jesus had not done anything. We know that in the years ahead Jesus would heal, he would cast out demons, he would perform miracles, he would raise people from the dead, and the biggest of all, Jesus would offer salvation to all humanity by being crucified on the cross and then resurrected. But at this point, when Jesus comes out of the water, he has done none of that.
But God proclaims his love for his son. God loves him because Jesus is his.
This is a precious picture, friends, of how God feels about you. God loves you because you are his.
Because of our human minds, we tend to think that love is conditional. I will love you if you do this. Or they will only love me if I do this thing or am this way or love them back in a particular way. Our human love has strings attached.
But God’s love doesn’t.
God loves you and delights in you because you are his. He does not love you because you are perfect. His love for you is not based on your performance. It is not based on your beauty. It is not based on how perfect your family looks. It is not based on what you can offer to him. It is not based on how good you can be. It is not based on your church attendance or your service to him. God’s love for you is based on the sole fact that he loves you because you are his.
Take a moment to reflect on that. Saturate yourself in that truth. Freedom is found and peace is felt when you grasp that his love for you has no strings. His love for you is pure. His love for you is perfect. His love for you is eternal.
You are his daughter. You are his son. You are his.
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1
God, thank you for loving me.
