Jesus loves you, despite whether you can believe it or feel it
Jesus loves you, and whether you can feel it is not the issue. That truth, pointed out in the Bible countless times, is what really matters.
We're emotional beings. We singles can often be more emotional than is good for us. We have our ups and downs. Many times we think that our life is going badly, when that's not the case at all.
Living in our own little singular world, we sometimes get the notion that nobody loves us. Nobody! But that's not the case. Jesus, the embodiment of pure love, believes that you are one-of-a-kind and you are beautiful in his eyes.
Over and over, the words of the gospels describe the Lord as a gentle shepherd who has great affection for his flock--which includes you and me.
Jesus loves you regardless
As human beings, we put conditions on our love. "I'll love you if you behave this way." "I'll love you if you do such-and-such." Or, "I'll love you, but only if you love me first."
Jesus doesn't make any demands like that on you. He loved you even before you were created, he loves you right now, and he'll love you for all eternity. That's a mind-boggling thought.
The apostle John says "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love." (1 John 4:16) Jesus is God, so Jesus is love. It's the very essence of his being. He can only act out of love.
Your past doesn't matter to him. This is not the on-again, off-again that people dole out, like they have a limited quantity and they're afraid they'll run out. No, Jesus loves you generously in a way that will overflow your soul.
Jesus loves you understandingly
Thank God Jesus became a human being, so he knows what you are going through.
And you know what? Jesus was a single person all his life, too. You don't often hear a sermon about that or read about it, but take a moment to think. Jesus knows what you, as a single person, are going through.
He experienced every kind of emotion you do. He got lonely, he got discouraged. He even got depressed at times. He is 100% man and 100% God. I can't understand that, but the Bible assures us it's true.
The good news about that is Jesus understands you and he has the power, as God, to do something about it. He sent his Holy Spirit to live inside you as Counselor and Helper. Never far off in the heavens, always close, always inside.
Jesus empathizes with you as a single person because he knows how it feels, firsthand. When he saw married couples and families, he had the same longings you feel. He knew marriage didn't fit into his holy mission, but don't you think he desired the kind of intimacy only family life can bring?
Married pastors don't often get this. They skip right over Jesus' singleness. Let's you and I not make that mistake. He knows how we feel.
Nobody understands you like Jesus. What that means for you is that Jesus loves you because he knows you're fighting the good fight, and he knows how hard that fight is for you.
Jesus loves you truly
It's encouraging that Jesus knows the truth about you, who you really are as a person deep down inside, your hidden thoughts and desires, your unspoken aspirations, the fears and emotions you keep bottled up, and he still loves you.
He wants you to get better--that's always his goal for you--but he loves you right now, this minute, exactly as you are. He knows the truth about you and Jesus loves you.
We don't often get that from other people. Often they have ulterior motives. What single hasn't been hurt by someone we thought loved us but really didn't? I have, and I know you have too. That's not how it is with Jesus.
His love is genuine, the real thing. He proved it on the cross. He died for you and for me, so we can be with him forever. The Bible says there's no greater love than that a man gives up his life for his friend.
It makes you mentally stagger. It humbles you, too. None of us is worthy of that kind of love, but Jesus lavishes it on us.
His love is the river of living water. If we let it flow into us, we can let it pour out to others, because there's an unlimited supply. If we hoard it and dam it up, it becomes stagnant.
We don't have to worry about running out when we give love away because there's always more where it came from. That's one of the great secrets of life. Because this endless stream of love flows into you, you can love others.
Jesus loves you healingly
Jesus' sacrifice on the cross washes away your sins. When you accept him as Savior, it makes you worthy to enter God's kingdom and live there with him forever.
When he was on earth, Jesus went about healing people, not just physically, but emotionally as well. In some way, all of us singles are busted, broken people. Something inside us has been hurt, and it needs repair. Jesus can fix it.
Jesus' love is miraculous, mending the brokenhearted. Psychiatry is useful in its place, but Jesus' love is indispensable. We're not whole without it.
Accept Jesus' healing. Accept his love. Don't be afraid and think it couldn't possibly happen to you. Open yourself to it.
Jesus loves you. Make that the cornerstone of your life.
Jesus' love brings hope
When you know Jesus loves you, it brings real, empowering hope into your life. Explore that hope with Jack's paperback book, Hope for Hurting Singles.
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