Lie No. 2: God Doesn't Love Me

Lie number two that we believe about God is that he doesn't really love us. Again, like the previous lie, this is one that we say we don't believe. We know in our heads that God loves us, but in our hearts, for women especially, we don't always feel that he loves us.

"For many women, there is a disconnection between what they know intellectually and what they feel to be true. And therein lies one of our problems: We trust what we feel to be true, rather than what we know to be true." p. 50 of Lies Women Believe

I know that this is a big one for me. I would never say that I actually believe that God doesn't love me, but my behavior often suggests otherwise. I desperately seek approval and acceptance from other people. We all want so deeply to be loved and accepted and validated by the people around us. And that desire can have a crippling effect on us if we let it. If we truly believed that God loves us and we rested confidently in that, we would not need to spend a single waking moment caring about, let alone striving for, acceptance, love and approval from anyone but Him.

And I'm speaking mainly to women here, but you all know you've done it, some of us do it non-stop: we absolutely have to make sure that we buy the right clothes, wear the best makeup, have the right job, don't do anything too radically "Christian", just enough to fit in at church but not look like a nut, etc. Heaven forbid we do something that might make us stand out, even look a little weird.

I challenge each of you to be honest with yourself and find that one thing or several things that you depend on to make sure people see you the way you want to be seen. If it's fashion and beauty (something we'll touch on more deeply later), I challenge you to abandon your stylish clothes and makeup for one week, maybe a month... and no cheating - I'm not talking about the ever popular I-just-rolled-out-of-bed-but-actually-spent-an-hour-getting-ready look. Maybe for you, it means not participating in the office gossip, and dare I say possibly speaking out against it. Maybe it's something much bigger. When Luke and I were facing God's calling to us in the area of family planning, I am sorry to say that I hesitated primarily because I knew people, including our closest family and friends, would think we were insane. I praise God that He gave me the confidence and faith to take that leap and lean on Him, regardless of what anyone might think. I encourage you to take that leap as well, in whatever area He is calling you to do so, and I promise you, there is something.

You just have to pray about it.

And, I'd be willing to take a gamble that you already know what it is.

Now, go... leap... and rest safely knowing that God loves you more than you could possibly imagine... and that is ALL that matters.

"When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." Ephesians 4:14-19