You Are Loved

From Dayspring Devotions
http://devos.dayspring.com/

You Are Loved
God's love is different from ours.
God doesn't just give love - He is love.

We are experts at earning the affections of friends, lovers, children, and our families. Coming face-to-face with a God who loves us unconditionally sets us off balance. It's much easier to believe, "If I go to church and read my Bible, God will love me." That makes us feel safe because it seems we can control God's love. It's scary to believe in God's unconditional love.

What if it's not true? Then the deepest desire of our hearts can never be a reality. We watch Cinderella and the prince then hope for our own version of living happily ever after. But life disappoints us, and God is our last chance to be fully, deeply loved. So we do everything possible to please Him because even though we've endured many rejections, His would be unbearable.

 But God is whispering the words to our hearts we long to hear if only we can dare to believe them: "You are loved deeply, truly, always." That's the kind of crazy love that sets us free forever. God invites us to take His hand, trust His heart, and believe that the love we've been searching for all our lives is the love we've already found.

 --Devotional excerpt by Holley Gerth, from her book God's Heart for You: Embracing Your True Worth as a Woman. For more hope and encouragement, visit Heart to Heart with Holley and subscribe by email there to receive her free devotionals
http://www.holleygerth.com/