God Archives

Sin and Grace

How do you react to sin? How do you respond when someone in your family, your office, your work, sins against you? How do you respond when you are betrayed, gossiped about, insulted, slandered, or persecuted? Do you feel hurt, angry, or resentful? What if the person who wronged you was someone you loved and cared about? If you feel hurt when someone wrongs you, how do you think God feels?

In the beginning, God created Adam. God told Adam if he ate of the tree of Knowledge he would surely die. When Adam ate of the forbidden tree, it surely must have broke God’s heart. He loved Adam. He had created him. He had cared for him like a father. He gave Adam everything he could possibly need or desire. He gave him a paradise to live in, a place of ease and tranquility. A paradise on earth. But Adam wasn’t happy. He wanted more. He thought God was holding something back. It didn’t occur to him that God may have been hiding something from him for a reason. For his own benefit, God didn’t want Adam to discover evil. Surely, God felt the sting of betrayal. He had been like a father to Adam and Adam broke his promise to never eat of the forbidden tree. God could have easily sought revenge, but he didn’t. In fact, it was within his right to snuff out the life of Adam right then and there. He did warn Adam that if ate of the tree, he would surely die. But God’s heart welled with compassion. Adam and Eve had yet to bear any children. If God took away their lives, human history would have ended before it had a chance to begin. In his mercy, he did not slay Adam right then and there, even though God had every right to do so. Instead, God sent Adam away to a place where life would no longer be easy for him. From that moment on, Adam would have to grow his crops in a place full of weeds. He’d have to learn to survive through hard work and suffering. God’s actions were an expression of mercy. God could have killed off the human race right then and there, but he chose not to. Instead, he allowed Adam to live a long life. In fact, Adam lived to see nine generations of his offspring. Wow! What a blessing! How many people do you know have lived 900 years old?

Is it then any wonder that life was so highly prized by those of faith in the Old Testament?

Life was deemed precious by the faithful. Every breath of life was not only a blessing, but an act of mercy from God. Surely, as sinners, we all deserve death, just as Adam did. Surely, God has every right to slay us all. But he doesn’t. Why? He mercifully gives us life so that we may acknowledge him, the giver of life. Whether life is hard or easy, we have breath in our lungs. And that’s a gift.

Luke 13 begins with a group of people who tell Jesus about some Galileans who were brutally killed by the Romans. Apparently, these individuals thought the Galileans got what was coming to them – God allowed them to die a brutal death because of their sin. But Jesus puts them in their place. “Do you think they died because their sin was greater than yours?” He asks them. “No, that’s not why they perished.” Apparently, these people considered themselves holier than thou. They thought of some people more deserving of death and punishment than themselves. They wagged their fingers, claiming those Galileans got what they deserved. But Jesus turned the tables on them. He tells them that the sins of “those people” are no worse than their own. Ouch! And if they don’t repent, the same fate will happen to them. What was Jesus saying? He was saying that because of their sin, they all deserve the same fate as the Galileans they were so busily wagging their fingers against. But God decided not to slay them, as he did the Galileans, even though that’s what they deserved. He chose instead to allow them to live. And this was an act of grace. An act of mercy. God was under no obligation to save anyone, but he chose to allow some to live anyway. And if those of whom he restores, saves, and protects, do not recognize God’s act of mercy and repent of their sins, God will allow the same harsh judgment to fall upon them. The fate of the Galileans was meant as a warning to those still living. They were to repent and acknowledge God for his mercy, for preserving their lives.

There are two things that God requires of us: thankfulness for his goodness towards us, and to always trustingly call upon his Name in times of trouble. To call upon his Name means to recall to mind God’s character. And what do we know of his character? We know his character is one who is eager to show mercy. And when he shows mercy by answering our prayer, what should we do? We should thank him for his mercy!

How does this tie into sin?

I have often heard it said that God is a covenant making God, who is always faithful even we are not. But this frankly isn’t true, for two reasons. For one thing, covenants were made between pagan peoples. It was a pagan practice to perform covenant between two peoples. For another, covenants require swearing oaths, and Jesus commanded his followers not to swear oaths, but to simply let your yes be yes and your no be no. Thirdly, God has no need for oaths. Everything God says is true; therefore, if he says something is going to happen, it will. If everything he says is true, then all his promises are true. There’s no reason why he’d have any need to swear an oath. So why did he make covenant with his people? It is likely God condescended to make vows with men according to man’s customs at the time, so that people who lived in that time and culture might understand the seriousness of God’s intentions. God condescends to speak to us in the manner and language that is most meaningful. That is what he did in the Old Testament. But he had no need to “make covenant”. His promises were true regardless of whether or not he had sworn an oath. The other issue I have is that once a covenant has been broken, the other party is under no obligation to fulfill their end of the bargain. That is, God might have been faithful to his promises to the Israelites in spite of their unfaithfulness to their Mosaic covenantal vows, but God was under no obligation to do so. He was faithful, not because of covenantal vows which are based on conditional promises which had been broken time and time again by the nation of Israel, but because of God’s purity of character. God repeatedly told the Israelites that it was on the account of his Name that he’d forgive the Israelites their sins and fulfill his promises to them. His Name refers to his character and reputation. In describing his relationship with the nation of Israel, God described himself as a husband married to an unfaithful wife. And Jesus claimed that the only valid reason for a man to divorce his wife is unfaithfulness. Thus, God had every right to “divorce” Israel and attach himself to some other people group. It was out of his consistent character of all surpassing grace, mercy, and love, that God chose to fulfill his promises to Israel even when they sinned against him, not because of covenantal obligations which had been nullified the moment Israel broke their vows.

A year ago, I participated in a Bible study of the Old Testament. Specifically, we studied the Hebrew people during the time when their kingdom was divided into Israel and Judah. The nation of Israel had one wicked king after the other. The nation of Judah had a sprinkling of kings who were faithful to God, but they were not much better. During these turbulent years, God sent prophet after prophet to warn the Hebrew people that they needed to turn back to God. And over and over again, they were rejected. Jeremiah was one of the last of these prophets. For forty years he warned the people that God would punish them by allowing their enemies to conquer their nations, massacre their people, and send the survivors into exile. But no one believed him. No one believed him because it went against God’s covenantal promise to always place a descendent of Judah as ruler over the people. Jeremiah would have been reminded by the people that God had specified that this was an eternal promise. Therefore, God would always protect the nation of Judah. Always. Forever. He would never allow Judah to fall. It was inconceivable for them to think otherwise. God had always kept his promises. Why would he suddenly stop? But God did abandon them, and both Israel and Judah fell to their enemies.

When our class ended, we discussed why God abandoned them. And it was agreed that they were abandoned because of their sin. But this conclusion defies logic. Clearly, both nations sinned greatly against the Lord long before they were destroyed. God gave them many chances to turn away from their wickedness, but they refused. And it gets worse. God accuses them of committing greater sins than that of the pagan nations around them! If it was sin, God should have struck them down long before things got out of hand. But he didn’t. Why? Because love covers a multitude of sins. In God’s loving nature, God forgave them, over and over again. God loved his people. But his people did not recognize him. They did not give him honor or thanksgiving. They never grieved over their sins, and they took God’s merciful nature completely for granted. God was willing to give his people chance after chance after chance to confess their sins and turn away from their wickedness. But like stubborn children, they continued doing whatever they were doing before, without a care in the world that there might be consequences. At one point in the book of Jeremiah, God acts like a frustrated father, at the end of his rope. He lists their numerous sins and his growing wrath. But then he does something unexpected. He tells them (and I’m paraphrasing here), “Ok, guys. You all have turned against me. You could care less about the laws and precepts I gave you. You insist on going your own way. Fine. Whatever. I am at my wits end and have given up hope of you embracing my laws anymore. So, I’ll make you a deal. If you do this one thing for me – just this one thing – I promise to relent on my anger. I won’t punish you for your wickedness. I will forgive you and cancel the debt.” It’s like a parent telling an unruly child, “Ok, I give up! Day after day I’ve been after you over something. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Any time I ask you to do something, you do just the opposite. I am done with having any high expectations from you anymore! So, I’ll make a deal with you. If you do this one thing for me, just this one thing, I’ll be happy. That’s how low my expectations are right now. Clean your room and all will be forgiven!” Israel’s sins were great. Surely, they deserved punishment. It was out of grace that they weren’t. God chose to abandon Israel after they refused to do that one thing (in this case, God asked them to release their Hebrew slaves). God had asked them to obey a single command – and they couldn’t even do that right. God hadn’t abandoned the people; the people had abandoned him. And it was only then that God turned away from his own people and let them fall under the hands of their enemies.

So, what do we learn from this? We learn that God will not reject us because of sin. But he will reject us if we take God completely for granted. If we assume he does not care if we do as we please. If we assume he must not care about our actions if no just punishment falls upon us (yet).

Does that mean God is a legalist? That he expects perfection? No. God simply wants us to be contrite about our sins. To view sin and wickedness for what it is. It is evil. And it is abhorrent to God. To embrace the wisdom to love that which is good and to reject that which is evil. If we love God, then we love the things that God loves. If we love God, all evil becomes repugnant. When we find ourselves doing the evil we do not want to do, we are reminded of Saint Paul’s remarks in Romans 7. We no longer love the part of ourselves that does evil, but we are reminded that our sins have been crucified with Christ on the cross. When our hearts agree that God’s law is good, that our own deeds have conflicted with God’s law, and believe that Christ endured the punishment that should have been ours, the full wrath of God, God will not only have mercy with regards to our sins, but grant us a new resurrected life with him. And if our hearts are in agreement with all of that, then gratitude will naturally bubble up inside of us. We are no longer afraid when we sin. We see God as a god of mercy and goodness, and not a merciless taskmaster. We see our lives as glorious gifts from God and not a curse or a torment. Sin may persist, but as long as we still have breath and life, we live under God’s redeeming grace. Thus, Saint Paul was right when he said, when sin increases, God’s grace increases all the more!

The question is, are you thankful? Are you grateful? Are you grateful for your life and all the good things God has given you? Are you grateful for God’s great gift, the gift of his Son? Are you thankful for the sacrifice He made on your behalf? Will you give him your thankfulness, devotion, and praise? Will you trust in his mercy in your time of need? Will you praise him with your heart when he delivers you? Or will you go on your way, doing whatever you were doing before, giving him neither your acknowledgement nor praise, nor one shred of your obedience?

How Shall We Celebrate the Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Recently, we celebrated the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.

I grew up in California in the 80’s and I don’t remember much being said about his name or legacy in the public media. My parents talked more about MLK than either my teachers or the media did. Since MLK lived in their generation, it made sense that his influence would have a more meaningful effect on their lives.

Now, it is 2024, and I now live in Atlanta. I am not sure how the rest of the nation views MLK’s life and influence, but at least here in Atlanta, his name has somehow reached the status of legend. He is viewed as a larger than life figure, like some kind of Marvel superhero who valiantly went to battle against the oppression of racism. Yet, nothing could be further than the truth.

A few years ago, I read MLK’s book, Where Do We Go From Here?, a book that was published posthumously, a few years after his death. For people who want to know how the man thought about the world around him and wrestle with how they might continue his mission, read his book.

Martin Luther King was both a Christian, and a black man. As a black man, he both suffered, and saw the suffering of others. And it weighed on his heart, as it did with many of his contemporaries. But while he and other civil rights leaders of his time all agreed that change was badly needed, they all argued over how to go about bringing change into the spotlight. Many of his contemporaries desired a more drastic approach. Some advocated violence. Surely, there was a lot of rage that had been built up over time. And underneath that rage, was a mountain of hurt, sorrow, and anguish from suffering under the chains of cultural racism. MLK understood all this. He’d even sympathize. But he still refused to advocate an “eye for an eye” attitude. He says in his book that he was often criticized – by blacks, other civil rights leaders – for advocating a non-violent, non-forceful approach. While others advocated a “hate thy enemy” approach, he refused to give in. He’d be the only one in the room, all alone. No one took his side. But he said if all the world disagreed with him, it wouldn’t have mattered. As a determined Christian, a follower of Christ, a follower of the man Jesus who taught to “love thy enemy” and “bless those who curse you”, Martin Luther King was utterly resolute in making his stance against racism by some other means.

In his book Where Do We Go From Here? he notes that after civil rights laws had been passed, and civil rights was no longer in the media spotlight, volunteerism had plummeted. Everyone acted as if their cause had ended. And yet, he noted that at the time of his writing, a year after laws had been passed, only one school had been desegregated. He was dismayed that so many felt that the civil rights battle had been fought, and won, and now there’s nothing more to do. There was plenty to do! The battle was still ahead, he felt. There was still much that needed to change, if only people were willing to carry on the fight.

Where, then, is the battle of racism still going on today?

In his book, Just Mercy, published in 2014, Bryan Stevenson exposes the flagrant racism that still exists today within our criminal justice system. And I can attest, as a volunteer within the prison ministry, that there is a disturbing disproportionate number of inmates who are black versus any other race. Bryan Stevenson embodies what MLK stood for. He saw oppression and injustice and decided to do something about it. Bryan Stevenson also reminds us that racism still exists. It’s still a dark shadow of which we have yet to completely eliminate. It’s a stain that still remains in areas within our culture.

But I think it is unwise to consider MLK’s life as one who cared only about eliminating racism. While the remnants of racism still exist, MLK was more than a civil rights activist. He was a devout Christian man who was stirred with compassion for all those under oppression. His compassion was not just reserved for blacks only. He cared also for whites. It might surprise people that MLK considered his next mission in life as a crusade against poverty. Here is what he says in his book:

“The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.” [King Jr, Martin Luther. Where Do We Go from Here (King Legacy) (p. 176). Beacon Press. Kindle Edition.]

Why, then, do we honor the man merely for his crusade against racism? His crusade was not just for African Americans. It was for all Americans. All Americans who were subjected to oppression of any kind. Racism is just one form of oppression, and while racism is most certainly a vile form of oppression, there are many others.

As Christians, if we are to learn anything from MLK, it is to be sensitive to the oppressed within our society, whether they be black, white, or some other people group. It is also to be determined to take action, to not sit still and “pray” that someone else will lead the charge. It is also to be unwaveringly determined to instigate change using peaceful means. It is to show compassion, even onto those who are responsible for the oppression in society. It is to deliberately break those laws or standards which are unjust – and then heap grace upon grace on those who inflict harsh punishment.

It is to live a life we should all be demonstrating as believers in Christ: To seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. To learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoner. To show compassion on the foreigner and not turn them away. All these things are biblical. All these are within the calling of the Church, the spiritual Body of Christ. No one individual has a calling to do all these things, but the Body of Christ together works to do all of these.

Do we have the courage to walk in MLK’s shoes? We limit his example by saying it’s all about racism and nothing else. It’s about living up to our calling as Christians. Living up to our calling as followers of Christ. Living up to crusading in some manner on behalf of those who are “weak”, scorned, helpless, disabled, deprived, indigent, oppressed, hungry, naked, homeless, rejected, orphaned, abandoned, etc.

MLK would not appreciate people idolizing him. He would not want people putting him on a pedestal. He would want people to simply do what they already know they should be doing all along. And that is to love one another in action and not just in words. And God willing, we will do so.

FAITH

Christians use the word faith a lot. But do Christians really know what the word means?

I believe it is vital for Christians to know and understand the definitions of the words they use all the time; words such as faith, grace, love, covenant, sacrament, etc.

Here is what faith is not:
• It is not simply having a belief in something
• It is not wishful thinking
• It is not being smart enough to be able to use the word faith in a sentence
• It is not having all the Scriptures memorized that has the word faith in them
• It is not a catch phrase
• It is not ‘blind’

So, what is it?

One place to start is the dictionary.

faith /fāTH/ noun

complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

Let’s think about this. Let’s ponder it deeply. Having faith is having complete trust. It means you are 100% confident that something is true. Thus, if you have faith in a person, that means you have 100% trust in him. That person is 100% reliable. There isn’t a doubt in your mind. It is “complete trust”. Therefore, if you say you have faith in God, then you are saying you have complete trust in Him. It doesn’t mean simply that you believe God exists. It means you consider Him 100% reliable. He is 100% dependable.

Here is another thing to keep in mind. The book of James says that faith without works is worthless. Now, let’s not confuse “works” that James refers to with the empty “works” that St. Paul talks about in his letters. James is making the point that some people are frankly hypocrites. They say one thing and do another. I think we can all agree that the “faith” of hypocrites is no faith at all! It is worthless. The faith that God wants us to have, the faith that God consistently honors and blesses throughout Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments, is a faith that is so sure, so unwaveringly certain, that one responds with unquestioning obedience to whatever God asks of that person, even if what He promises or asks of a person may seem illogical, dangerous, or downright crazy. God asked Abraham to believe he’d father a child even in his old age. He asked Gideon to form an army of a measly two hundred to confront enemy armies of thousands, and tens of thousands. He asked Noah to build an ark and told him to just trust Him that He would flood the earth, even though such a thing had never happened before in the history of all mankind, and Noah had never even seen rain fall from the sky. He had never seen a rainbow. God had anointed David as heir to the throne, but David had to put his entire trust in God while dodging enemies on all sides, including King Saul, who were trying to kill him. None of these valiant folk were hailed for their passionate submission to the Mosaic Law, as written in the Ten Commandments and expounded in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. But they were hailed by their faith, their complete confidence that they could depend on God. If God said something was going to happen, they believed it. If God told them to do something, they did it without question because they knew God as an all-knowing god who knew what He was talking about. They loved God and all the things that God valued and loved. They loved all His characteristics. They knew God as a god who was merciful, just, forgiving, gracious, tenderhearted, compassionate, almighty, powerful, a great protector, defender, dependable, honest, honorable, and kind. And God never did anything “out of character”. The Law taught them only that they fell far short of being considered worthy of acceptance as His holy people. They understood that their standing as God’s chosen people rested entirely on God’s faithful willingness to forgive and give them a clean slate every time they repented. Thus, they relied not on themselves but solely on the integrity and character of God. And this is the faith of a Christian – that we are realistic of who we are: flawed, weak, and corrupted human beings, who will one day die and return to the earth as dust – and of who God is: singular (there is only one god), eternal, holy, divine, perfect, all-knowing, all powerful, sovereign king, judge, healer, life-giver, provider, comforter, savior, defender, protector, and friend – AND we act on that knowledge in the things that we do, in at least one aspect of our lives. That is, perhaps we’ve learned to depend on God in our activities in some areas of our lives but not in others, such as perhaps we hit a rough spot in our marriage and we learned to “give it to God” and when we did that, things worked themselves out. Or perhaps you lost your job and you’ve had to depend on God to provide for basic things like food or enough money to pay the bills, something you never had to do before, you always lived comfortably before and kind of took it for granted that you always had more than enough to provide for your needs. Ironically, when we let go of ourselves and the dependence we’ve always had on our own strength to get us through, that is when we are the most free. And that is when our faith in God shines the brightest. And this is precisely the type of faith God consistently honors again and again all throughout Scripture.

Does that mean the Law is meaningless? What did King David do once he was confronted by Nathan regarding his sin? David had slept with Bathsheba, had her husband killed, and then took her as his wife. He had accomplished all this with cold-hearted determination. He had no conscious, no remorse. He was consumed with single-minded possessive lust. But once Nathan confronted him regarding his sin, his heart crumbled. You see, deep down inside, David loved the Lord. He had never lost his love for God. He loved the Lord and treasured all of God’s laws and statutes as being just and fair. When the realization of what he had done hit home, he confessed to God, “Against You only have I sinned.” Surely, he had sinned against a great number of people, but what broke his heart the most was the feeling that he had betrayed God. In his heart he knew he had done everything God despises – lust, adultery, deceit, murder, and countless other sins. He mourned in tears for many days and barely ate a thing. When confronted of our sins, our hearts should respond as David’s did. It should cut us to the heart. If we truly love God, it should tear us up inside. At the same time, we remember also who God is. There is no sin so great that God is unable or unwilling to forgive. We may feel low and dejected, cut to the heart, but at the same time, we can go before the throne of grace in tears and mourning, confessing our sins to God, confident that God who loves us with an all-consuming love, will forgive us and restore our broken spirits. This, too, demonstrates faith. David had faith in the Law as being good and just and also in God’s merciful nature, being someone who also was always eager to forgive a contrite heart.

Some people will say, “I have faith in God’s promises.” But we don’t put our faith in promises. Would you trust a promise made by a con artist to pay you back the money you loaned him? Probably not. But I’m guessing you would believe the same promise if it came from a trustworthy source, like a nun or priest. Thus, a promise is only as reliable as the promise-keeper. But what if you don’t trust nuns or priests. Then you wouldn’t put any faith in their promises either, even if they were good people. Thus, the amount of secure confidence you have in someone fulfilling their promise is only as great as your trust in that person’s integrity. Thus, your trust in God’s promises is directly linked to what you believe to be true about God Himself. If you think of God as distant, capricious, and uncaring, you probably are not going to have much faith in God’s promises to help you in your moment of crisis. However, if you think of God as intimate, merciful, compassionate, powerful, and attentive, you will be quick to call upon Him in faith that he will listen to your cries for help and save you in your time of need. You will be quick to believe in His promises because of what you believe about HIM.
I have often heard it said that God is a “covenant-making God”, as if that is supposed to be a mind-blowing concept. But we make covenants all the time. We get married, make promises to friends and family that we’ll spend more time with them, etc. We make promises and vows all the time. That’s not mind-blowing at all. It’s easy to MAKE promises. It’s easy to exchange wedding vows and throw a party. What’s mind-blowing about God is not that He makes covenantal relational vows with us. What’s mind-blowing is that He would be willing to stay loyal even when the covenant has been broken. There is one and only one condition that is acceptable by God for a man to divorce his wife and that is in the case of adultery. In the case of the covenant God made with Israel, God describes Himself as a husband being married to an adulterous wife (Israel). Over and over again, God reminds Israel, you have broken my covenant. By reminding Israel of this fact, He is saying, “Understand this: Because you’ve broken my covenant, I’m no longer bound by covenant to stay loyal to you or to keep my promises. You are acting like an adulterous wife, and I would be well within my rights to reject you and accept a new people, a new nation, to become my holy people. Even so, I have chosen NOT to reject you – I still love you, regardless of what you have done. Therefore, I choose to keep all the promises I had made to you, as if you had always been a faithful wife.”

Think about this. Ponder this deeply. Do you know anyone who would willingly put up with that kind of abuse?
This is mind-blowing. Adultery is the worst kind of betrayal. Imagine making promise after promise to your spouse, during your marriage’s honeymoon stage, expecting the relationship to last for as long as the two of you are alive, only to find out your beloved has been playing the field. Every instinct inside of you wants to leave this horribly dysfunctional and broken relationship. You feel angry, rejected, unappreciated, and unloved. Your heart is broken, and you know you have every right to leave the relationship for good. Yet, your heart breaks for your spouse. You find it in your heart to still love the person. And you make the conscious decision to not only stay faithful to that person as their spouse, but you are determined to fulfill all the promises you made from the moment you were first wed. If we are honest, we would probably call such a person a fool for being so naïve. That person is headed for heartbreak and disaster if they willfully choose to stay in such a relationship. But God was neither naïve nor blind when he made his decision. He knew what was in their hearts. He knew they’d probably betray Him again and again. He knew exactly what He was getting into. He knew He would ultimately suffer a lot of pain and heartache from a people who refused to listen to Him, time and time again. But by keeping his promises, he crowned them with unmerited favor.

This is the faithfulness of God. It defies all human instincts. Most people would run away from an adulterous relationship. Many walk away from that kind of betrayal feeling resentful and scarred. The depth of human love simply cannot comprehend the depth of pain and sorrow God was willing to embrace on behalf of his chosen, beloved people. In love, He willingly chose to stay bonded with Israel. It is impossible for human love to contemplate that kind of unwavering devotion. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t sound safe. Why would someone be that faithful to someone undeserved?

While there are some individuals who willingly stay in abusive relationships, they usually do so at great cost to themselves. They are battered, bruised, both physically and psychologically. They’ve been scarred deeply. They may suffer from a myriad of psychological disorders: anxiety, depression, battered wife syndrome, low self-worth, PTSD, alcoholism, substance abuse, etc. God is the only One capable of putting up with abuse and stand unhindered. God certainly grieves over sin, and even punishes us in anger and wrath, but our behavior never affects His character. His character and integrity never changes based on what we do. He never takes back His promises just because we’ve disappointed Him. He never becomes anxious, frustrated, bitter, or resentful over our own “bad behavior”. He never worries and frets over us. He’s never depressed. Never afraid. The magnitude of God’s patient love and tender sorrow for us is so great, that these emotions end up overriding everything else, and only the divine mind of God can supernaturally endure it unscathed.

Our reaction to God’s unmerited faithfulness to us should humble us. It should touch us deeply. There is no other love like this. It reveals to us how precious we are in His eyes. And because we are precious to Him, He is dependable. We can trust Him always.

Will you put your trust in Him today?