Who Am I?

  “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.” (1 John 3: 1)

   Who am I that God should love me so much that He sent His only Son to offer me eternal life?  I am a sinful man, flawed in many ways.  Yet God loves me and wants me as part of His family.  How blessed I am by His love and mercy.

   I sometimes struggle with the fact that God loves me so much.  I absolutely believe that He does but I don’t understand why He does.  I am simply a creature among many creatures.  I’m nothing special and don’t claim to be; yet God's love for me is eternal.

   Love is why Jesus became man.  Love is why He lived a life of rejection, abandonment and pain.  Love for me is why He suffered on the cross; to pay the price for my sins.  I know all these things and still I fall prey to Satan’s temptation and sin again.  How incredible it is that even though I continue to fail, God continues to love me and forgive my sins.

   “In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke15: 10).  These words of Jesus bring peace to me and remind me that God forgives me though I can do nothing to warrant His mercy.  Just as a parent forgives a child, God forgives me.

   Eventually, if I follow God’s will, perhaps I will know and understand His unending love and mercy for me.  For now, I must simply accept it with trust and thanksgiving, giving all praise and glory to Him.

“Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.  We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3: 2)