God loves and cares for man.
God loves and cares for me.
How do we know God has such a love for us?
Over the years, we have been told time and time again that God loves his children. We hear it over and over, but we don't really understand until we listen. Many things have contributed to my understanding of the validity of this truth, but I will share the scripture that made me listen.
"Behold, doth he cry unto any saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price." (2 Nephi 26:25)
My God, is a God of love. He guided our founding fathers to create this great nation. We are free, and He knows that in this freedom, we can find joy and happiness. He has given us a family. My family is one of the things that gives me true joy and I'm thankful to have them. God has given us this beautiful world to enjoy and a body to convert all of its splendors. He constantly directs us, teaches us, reminds us, and loves us. We are completely reliant on the Lord.
Why then does he love us?
How can such a great being, who created the heavens and the earth, love ones so small and inferior? What worth do we hold? We, that have a capacity for great evil. Just take a look at the examples around us and in our history. Without God's light, we would be in utter darkness forever.
2 Nephi 4: 16-35
16 Behold, my a soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.Why would God spend so much time helping us progress if he didn't believe we could someday become great?
17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.
18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.
19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.
20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.
21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.
22 He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.
23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time.
24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me.
25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them.
26 O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?
27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?
28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.
29 Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions.
30 Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
31 O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?
32 May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!
33 O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy.
34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.
35 Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.
Once we have come to the knowledge that God loves and cares for us all individually, don't you think it would be enough to combat this cruel battle over self that we are facing? With all of this evidence around us, you would think that there wouldn't be any reason to doubt our self worth. If this great being loves us, then why can't we love ourselves? The world only finds worth in us if we are beautiful or intelligent. We are made to believe that if we don't look a certain way, that there is something wrong with us. If we had God's great perspective of who we are...these fleeting worries would have no affect on our progression. Little cares would vanish and we would be pressing ever more to reach our potential.
Goal:
- Feel God's love for you
- Love yourself
- Love God
It can be said that none of my words of testimony have changed over the years, but the meaning behind the words are much deeper and express the fine details etched in my heart...by a loving father.
Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve.
Beautiful! Just what I needed! Fits in with one of my songs/poems. Watch my blog for them... thank you for being so intuitive and inspired and such a great writer, Brooke. Thank you for expressing your deepest feelings and testimony to the world, or at least those of us that read this. It is out there, and God knows and loves you deeply, as you already know. And I love you dear!
ReplyDeleteBrooke...you are amazing! I just love you to pieces!!
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