As part of my time alone with God in the morning I have been reading the book Abba’s Child by Brennan Manning (thanks to a recommendation by Natalie Witcher—read her blog). A few weeks ago one of the chapters in the book hit me pretty hard…God used it (and is still using it) to shift some of my old paradigms about how I look at God’s love for me. He asks this great question that I am still wrestling with:

How would you respond if I asked you this question: Do you honestly believe that God likes you, not just loves you because theologically God has to love you? (Abba’s Child, page 64)

That’s a great question…do I really believe God loves me…or that He even likes me? Not because He has to…but because He just does? I have difficulty answering this question; I don’t like my answer. But the truth is, God does love us. Period. End of story…

God loves who we really are—whether we like it or not. (page 22)

Thank God for that one…but I wonder how many of us actually believe it. I wonder how much I actually believe it.

More to come on this topic…