Every so often, I catch a glimpse of myself as I must appear to others. I see how silly I am, how ugly I act, how petty I think. Inevitably these glimpses make me really wonder how God can love me.
It’s not an esteem issue or a case of not liking myself. No, this is the face of reality and the wonderment of just how much God DOES love me.
When I see how I must appear to others, when I catch sight of how very far I have to go, when I glance the starkness of my sins and failings, it is then that I better understand - intellectually AND emotionally - just how merciful and loving God our Father is.
I let people down. I disappoint. I fail.
And yet God does not ask perfection. He does not rail at me and throw sharp objects. He does not harp on it.
Instead, he opens wide his arms and asks, “Why have you waited so long to come home?”
The blessings in my life don’t stop because of my weaknesses or my tendencies to let God down. In fact, perhaps the greatest blessing, the biggest grace, has been the ongoing growth and desire to keep “coming home” to God’s loving arms.
I may be silly and ugly and petty and more. God isn’t giving up on me. Just like the father on the sidelines who doesn’t hesitate to walk right onto the court to pick up his wounded daughter, He cheers me on, picks me up, and hugs me tightly.
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