For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Psalm 117:2
As I meditate on this verse, I am struck anew with the goodness of the Lord. His love toward us is great and His faithfulness endures forever. He has a vast amount of love for me, and because of His faithfulness, that love never ends. No matter what I’ve done or left undone, every morning when I wake up, the Lord loves me with the same passionate love as the day before. This is truly amazing! If I really think about it I have to say that I believe I have a better grasp of the Lord’s love that of His faithfulness. I can believe in and accept God’s unconditional love for me in this moment in time, but after I’ve behaved less than honourably toward my husband, or after I realise I haven’t read the Bible in two weeks, then what do I think about God’s love toward me?
If I am honest, I realise that because of my unfaithfulness, I automatically doubt His faithfulness. Surely He must love me less when I am feeling badly or behaving badly. Or, even if He loves me the same, then surely He must think less of me or be disappointed in me.
But, that doesn’t line up with scripture! The scripture testify over and over that God is both loving AND faithful. That means He loves us all the time. His love and acceptance of us are the same every day. There is nothing that we can or forget to do that can change how He feels about us. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8: 38-39). I am loved – always. And out of that love and faithfulness I desire to be more like Him and share His love with others.
Lord, I thank you for your faithful love toward me. Help me to accept and appropriate your love every day. Amen
Kelly works in Global Partnerships at Asbury Seminary and lives in Wilmore with her husband and two children. This refection is from her book, Transformed by the Psalms.
