There’s a difference between knowing we’re loved intellectually and experiencing this love personally. And often this plays out in our relationship with God as well. All too often we’ve settled for the genetic love of God when a deeper more personal love is available.
Typically, our relationship with God mirrors the relationship we had with our dads or other father figures in our life. When they were demanding, then we often saw God as demanding as well. And when they were distant and uninvolved, then we tended to view God as the same.
And sometimes our dads were good, but otherwise still impersonal. We knew he loved us and provided for our family growing up, but this was not experienced as a personal love. We just happened to get the same benefits as everyone else by being part of his family. There was not a sense of being seen, known, or validated personally.
As such, our relationship with God followed a similar suit. While we don’t question God’s love for the world, which includes us by default, this still seems like a generic love and not one that values us personally.
But Christ makes it clear that God’s love for us is personal. He teaches us that not one sparrow falls to the ground without our Father’s knowledge. And that we’re more valuable than a whole flock of sparrows – with even the very hairs on our head being all numbered.
This seems very personal.
And so, if God appears impersonal to us, this is probably speaking to our faulty filters and those still wounded places in our own story.
By faith, we practice seeing and receiving the fullness of God’s love for us personally. And this starts by choosing to agree with God that we are loved personally by him. This is not something we can receive if we’ve already closed our hearts to it.
In the end, remember God’s love for you is personal. Not one sparrow falls to the ground without his knowledge and he cares for the unique movements of your heart as well.
Photo by Taneli Lahtinen on Unsplash
