Embracing God’s Unconditional Love: A journey of Trust and Acceptance
Feeling Disconnected? Finding God’s Unconditional Love
In the bustling chaos of my daily life, it’s all too easy to feel disconnected from God. Each day, I focus on everything I have to do. Each day, I let my frustrations or worries overcome my thoughts. And each day, I make mistakes and fall short of perfection. But we can have hope by embracing God’s unconditional love!
In my life, the worst days are the ones where I feel like my past sins overwhelm me. I find myself grappling with the weight of my failures. I wonder to myself: why can’t I be perfect, holy, or just like God called me to be?
It’s in these moments that we must turn our eyes to God. Because, in these moments, God is reaching out to us. And he wants us to receive all the blessings, freedoms, and redemptions he has for us.
What does it mean to truly accept a gift from God? It means that we must give him all of our worries and doubts and replace it with his blessings and freedom. We must deal with the struggles of sins and failures on our journey of faith. But we can only do it through trusting God.
Lifting the Burden of Failure: Finding Hope
There have been several times in my life where I wonder to myself, “Why can’t I just be the holy, perfect, and pleasing person God wants me to be?” I know that my thoughts are not alone, as Paul reflects on the same problem in Romans 7:15.
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
In this passage, Paul, too, anguishes over the problem of his imperfection. He cries in his letter, how sinful and wretched he is, and asks in verse 24:
“Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?”
It’s a feeling we all know too well – the weight of sin and shame pressing down, a reminder that we are no closer to perfection, a feeling that we are worth nothing, and a thought that we are no closer to God. However, this all is a lie.
Though we fall, God is there to lift the guilt and shame off our shoulders. Yes, we still make mistakes, but God’s unconditional love is so much bigger than our sins. We may not be perfect, but we are God’s precious children. God reaches out to us even as we turn away from him. When we listen to the lies, we cut off our faith journey. But uncovering and replacing the lies with truth shows that God’s grace and mercy shines the brightest.
For even as I struggle with my imperfection and placing my worth in Christ, Paul’s answer shines a bright light of hope.
“Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” 
To further illustrate this process, Jesus has given us the parable of the Prodigal Son, found in Luke 15:11-32.
The Son returned to his Father burdened by regret and shame. Yet, the Father’s response was not one of reproach or distance, but of unconditional love, compassion, grace, and acceptance. This parable beautifully illustrates the depth of God’s love for us, reminding us that even in our darkest moments, we are met with an over pouring of grace, forgiveness, and love.
Luke 15: 20- “So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
In this teaching we see God’s role as a kind and merciful father. While human’s role in the story can change back and forth to either son, God’s role does not change. God is always, and has always been, our merciful advocate and kind and loving father.
The importance of these facts are often overlooked as Christians. We forget that God is our Father. We forget that God is merciful, kind, and patient. And, We forget that God is loving. This is so important to the Christian life- as it was important to the Jews life.
Trusting God: Finding Freedom in Surrender
But what does this have to do with accepting heavenly gifts and blessings? Well, everything!
God’s grace and mercy is a wonderful undeserved gift that allows us to walk, to talk, and to live freely with him. To accept any gift from God, we must show him true and honest trust. We can never repay him for taking our burdens, but God does not want us to.
All God wants is our heart.
And what does it mean to grow a deeper relationship with God? It means that we are learning to trust him with all of our worries and doubts and letting him replace it with his blessings and freedom. We must deal with the struggles of sins and failures on our journey of faith. But we are delivered through these difficult seasons because of God’s work through Jesus.
Accepting gifts, especially without having something to offer in return is a challenging endeavor. Our human nature often pushes us to ‘get even’ or to reciprocate. However, God’s gifts are not transactional – they are freely and unconditionally given. We can never repay him back for all the gifts he wants to give us, let alone wiping the slate clean.
Sometimes, God wants to teach us the importance of simply accepting his blessing without attempting to repay him. To accept without fear or worry. Learning this lesson is difficult but important, and will lead us into great freedom- freedom from fear and shame.
When we forget that God is loving and kind, we start to see our relationship as dos and don’ts, perfectionism, or legalism. Just like the Jewish teachers: instead of serving God, we serve the law. To me, this is such an easy habit to start, one wrong deed or mistake can send me spiraling into all the things I have to do to fix my situation, fix myself, and fix my soul. But that’s impossible, Christ is the only one who can fix my soul, my mind, and my situation.
‘I can do nothing apart from him.’ John 15:4-5 ESV.
‘For all my good deeds are like filthy rags.’ Isaiah 64:6.
This cycle of legalism is a common one that many Christians fall into. And it is a powerful lie from the enemy.
If I just read my bible more, if I just go to Church, if I pray every morning…
…then I’ll be saved, then I’ll get what I deserved.
But we can never repay him for taking our burdens, and God does not want us too. All God wants is our heart, our love. Our human nature often pushes us to ‘get even’ or to reciprocate. However, God’s gifts are not transactional – they are freely and unconditionally given.
All of scripture points to the opposite of legalism.
‘It is by grace you are saved…so that no man may boast’. Ephesians 2:8-10.
God’s love is unconditional and unchanging. It extends beyond our failures, our doubts, and our attempts to repay him. He understands our innermost thoughts and feelings, and his love remains steadfast even when we fall short. We will always be indebted to him; however, the beauty of God’s love lies in the fact that he continues to pay our debts, not out of obligation, but out of boundless affection. We cannot out love God.
Understanding God’s Love and Generosity
Trusting in God can be one of the hardest tasks of our daily spiritual lives, especially when we want control. Just as our struggle to accept gifts is rooted in a lack of trust, our attempts to control and dictate our paths are rooted in a doubt towards God’s guidance. Yet, freedom and faith come from surrendering our will to his, allowing His love to guide our steps.
God’s love is unconditional and unchanging. It extends beyond our failures, our doubts, and our attempts to repay him. He understands our innermost thoughts and feelings, and his love remains steadfast even when we fall short. We will always be indebted to him; however, the beauty of God’s unconditional love lies in the fact that he continues to pay our debts, not out of obligation, but out of boundless affection.
I can think back on times in my life where trusting God, or giving him control, was almost completely out of the question. How could this God ever love me enough to forgive me for my mistakes? How could I know that this God would never turn his back on me?
Well, two verses stuck out to me as promises (in the midst of the hundreds of other promises God has given us). These verses have stuck with me through many hard times and situations, times when I didn’t know how I was going to make it. These verses reminded me that no matter what happens God was besude me. 
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:8.
“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” Hebrews 12:6
Understanding Our Father’s Discipline
Sometimes in our life, we face consequences. You right now might be saying, ‘You don’t know what I have done, where I am right now, how I am living my life…’ A question might arise, how could a kind living God allow all the pain and death in the world right now? In my world?
Let’s start off by recognizing the different between our heavenly punishment and our earthly consequences. Our earthly consequences are part of the larger struggles of sin and the curse from Adam and Eve’s time. Sometimes, we are forced to face the present consequences because of other people’s bad choices or our own choices. These consequences will only be for a short time, compared to eternity. However, heavenly punishment is the wrath of God that is to be poured out forever. This punishment is forever separation from God, or Hell. While we cannot always escape earthly consequences, we can escape the heavenly punishment.
From the very beginning of creation, God loved humanity, and he had wonderful plans for them. And even when they fall, even as he must rain down justice and punishment, God does not abandon them. Instead, he patiently and heartbreakingly endures to enact his plan to save all of humanity through the death of his son.
Jesus dies and all the justice and punishment for our sins fall on him. And in the end, God completes his plan, allowing all who call on Jesus’ name to be saved and to live with him. God sends his first son to save the rest of his children. Jesus dies and returns from the grave to save all of us.
Our God shows us the love of a father even through our earthly consequences by teaching us and sitting beside us in our pain. Our God continues to show us love by moving our heavenly punishment on Jesus, a willing, holy, and pleasing sacrifice for the payment of our sin debt.
Conclusion: Embracing God’s Unconditional Love in our Lives
God wants to give freely and openly.
To receive a gift is to trust that it was given freely, that you do not need to pay for it. Likewise, we need to trust God that he will not ask us to repay for what we cannot. He loves us and understands what we are and what we can do. In God’s eyes, we are individually cherished. His unconditional love is not generic or distant; it is personal and intimate. He values us beyond our actions, our deeds, and even our gratitude. As we embrace this truth, we are empowered to live lives rooted in His love, striving for holiness not as a means of repayment, but as a genuine response to His incomparable grace and unconditional love.
In our faith journey, we are constantly reminded to trust God. Slowing down and following his lead is a good example. The concept of accepting and receiving all of what he has for us, is dearly important. It is a show of his unbounded love, undeserved mercy and Grace, and unfathomable power.
As we navigate the challenges of trust and acceptance, we learn that God’s gifts are not earned or repaid, but received with open hearts. Through the lessons of the Prodigal Son and the teachings of scripture, we are called to embrace the unshakable truth that God’s love is a gift beyond measure – a gift that sustains us, redeems us, and empowers us to live lives that are holy and pleasing to Him.
God loves us so much, and I want to accept his unconditional love for us. You want this in your life as well!
Whenever I feel the guilt or shame of my past mistakes coming for me, I remind myself of God’s unconditional love. Whenever I feel angry or impatient towards someone else, I remind myself of God’s unconditional love towards them. I remind myself that in Christ, I am given freedom from my mistakes, that I am loved, that I am saved. ‘I rejoice! For it is Christ who has set me free.’
Remember this: God loves you so much that he sent his son to set you free from your failures and mistakes. Embrace his unconditional love!
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1-4 NIV.
Remember to check out these other articles about the Christian Journey and God’s Unconditional Love. Check us out on our socials!
Thanks, Leanna