REFLECTIONS

I have been reading the Old Testament to better understand God. What strikes me most is how defiant and disobedient people have been since the beginning, despite God’s love, mercy, and blessings for them. Many people find it difficult to believe in God. Others find it difficult to maintain their faith over time. Still others resist His invitation for a meaningful relationship: I did initially — I don’t anymore.

I’ve grown to love God. My love developed over time. Before I could do that, I had to believe. Believing required listening to my heart.

God asks little of us compared to what He gives in return. I believe God seeks our love, trust and obedience — the foundation of any healthy and loving relationship between a parent and child. He desires that we love Him; that we have no other gods except Him; that we be respectful of Him; that we show our appreciation to Him; that we obey Him by loving each other and treating others as we would desire to be treated by Him; that we ask Him for forgiveness when we make mistakes or disobey Him; and, that we learn from our mistakes and don’t repeat them.

As difficult as it can be to have a meaningful relationship with God, He never asks anything of us that is bad for us — or that we cannot do with His help. Nor does He ask anything of us other than to be the best version of ourselves that He intends us to be. Not in a material or worldly sense. God’s focus is on our spiritual development and understanding: Our ability to reflect God’s love and values in our everyday-lives.  To use the talents and gifts He has given us for a good purpose. To follow our dreams.

No matter how insignificant our lives may seem to us or those around us, our lives matter to God. We are more important to God than we can imagine. He loves us so much that He sacrificed His son, Jesus Christ, for us so that we could be with God forever. Nothing we ask of Him, or do (or fail to do) for Him, is insignificant to Him. God loves us and believes in us and He is willing to forgive us when we disobey Him. We have only to ask. What He expects in return is that we love Him more than we love anything else. He asks that we trust God to care for us, guide us, and do what is best. God asks that we have faith in what He tells us and that we trust Him to keep His promises. Simply stated, He asks us to believe in Him.

“So now, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith in his promises, we can have real peace with him because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. For because of our faith, he has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to actually becoming all that God has in mind for us to be.” (Romans 5:1-2)

To become the best version of ourselves we are meant to become, we must have faith in God.

Potential without faith is no potential at all.

Photo by sjenner13