Skip to main content

Hindrances to Accepting God's Love

Jun 23, 2013
By Dr. Charles Stanley
Scripture tells us that God created mankind for the purpose of expressing His divine, unconditional, all-satisfying love. Yet one of the most devastating failures in a Christian’s life is the inability to embrace the pure love of God. What prevents a believer from accepting His unconditional love?
1. Our own love relationships.
Ironically, the way we love each other can distort how we perceive God’s love. As imperfect people, we exhibit imperfect love. Conditional responses, wrong motives, and emotional highs and lows taint our understanding of God’s pure love.
2. Guilt.
Our remorse over sinful behavior can subtly convince us that we are unworthy of God’s love. This is a trap of the devil. We have the assurance of Scripture that the Father loves us completely, regardless of our actions.
3. Legalism.
Many people view the Bible as a simple rule book—a collection of dos and don’ts. If you base your view of divine love on your ability to uphold every biblical precept, you are doomed to failure. God gave us His Word for instruction and inspiration, not as a measuring stick by which He distributes love.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Danger in Being a Christian: It began as a Jewish sect; fierce persecution only helped it spread Today's reading: Acts 8 Acts 8:1 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. In some countries, a person who becomes a Christian forfeits a good education and job. And in a few countries, a person who converts risks his or her life. One church historian estimates that more Christians were martyred in the twentieth century than in all preceding centuries put together. Yet, strangely, more often than not, intense persecution of Christians leads to a spurt of growth in the church. An ancient saying expresses this phenomenon: "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church." The First Big Advance For a while, the new faith enjoyed popular favor. But very soon it involved grave risk. In the book of Acts, the persecution that produced the first Christian martyr, St...
1 comment
Read more

Reverenfun

Post a Comment
Read more

One Day at a Time - May 21

Reflection on Genesis 44:33 Sometimes we get a second chance. When we do, it’s important to seize the opportunity. That’s what Judah did. When his brothers wanted to kill Joseph, Judah didn’t rescue Joseph but instead suggested that they sell him as a slave (see Genesis 37:26–27 ). His second chance came when Benjamin’s life appeared to be in danger. This time Judah put his own life on the line to protect his half brother, Rachel’s other son. Perhaps this commitment was taken into account in the blessings that God inspired Jacob to give his sons; eventually the Messiah came through Judah’s descendants (see Genesis 49:10 ). God often gives us second chances in life. When he does, we need to take advantage of the opportunity and set things right.
Post a Comment
Read more