The same God who cares even about each sparrow knows and loves us more than we’ll ever fully understand.
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Sometimes it’s hard for us to know God’s love deep in our hearts. This is especially true if our experiences of human love have been inadequate or hurtful. Yet the fact of God’s love for each one of us is solidly and consistently affirmed in Scripture, including the passage in which Jesus talks about the value of sparrows. The same God who cares even about each sparrow knows and loves us more than we’ll ever fully understand. Yet, we can know God’s love through the good news of Jesus’s death for us. Moreover, God’s love will be poured into our hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit. Don’t you yearn to know more of God’s love for you today?
The God who values even a tiny sparrow knows and cares about us more than we’ll ever fully comprehend. Such amazing and encouraging news!
When we’re going through difficult times, we can struggle to believe God’s concern for us. If God really loves us so much, why is he letting us suffer?
Sometimes experiences of human love can help us understand and have confidence in God’s love. This is especially true for folks who, for example, had a particularly loving parent. Conversely, it can be hard for us if one or both of our parents did not express love to us in ways that touched our hearts.
As I was thinking about my experience of God’s care for me, I reflected on my relationship with my dad. He was a man who loved truly. But he did not find it easy to express his love in ordinary ways. My dad had a hard time saying “I love you” and he wasn’t very comfortable with physical expressions of love. Yet, at the same time, he found ways to communicate his love through actions that spoke louder than words.
as a pastor, I have heard time and again from people who struggle to believe in God’s love because their own parents were not very loving. In some cases, their parents were not just withholding love, but outright abusive. This can make it difficult for people to know God’s love for them in a personal way.
So how can someone truly know God’s love if their experience of human love is lacking or tainted? In some cases, folks like this have experienced deep love from others, from friends, or people at church, or a spouse, or their children. This can make such a difference.
But, no matter your experience of human love, you can know God’s love is a healing and transforming way. How? First of all, you can pay close attention to what you read in Scripture. The fact of God’s love for you is affirmed again and again, including the passage in Luke 12 about the sparrows. Second, you can let the truth of the gospel fill your mind and touch your heart. God’s love is communicated most profoundly through the death of Jesus. As it says in Romans 5:8, “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” As you meditate on this truth, God’s love can become more real to you.
Moreover, we are not on our own when it comes to knowing God’s love. We read in Romans 5:5 that “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” This means that God, through the activity of the Spirit, is making God’s own love known to us. This is great news for folks whose experience of human love is flawed. (And, in the end, that’s true for all of us because human love is never perfect.)
So, even if you grew up in a loving home, even if you’ve had powerful experiences of God’s love in the past, don’t you yearn to know more of God’s love for you? I know I do. It’s so easy for me to slip into assuming that God’s love is something I must earn by my performance. And, when I fail to live up to my own expectations, I can project my lack of love for myself onto God. So, I need to know that the God who has loved me through Jesus Christ is like a father who goes out into the dark night to look for a child’s beloved Teddy. Or, if you prefer, like a father who runs unashamedly to embrace the son who has hurt and dishonored him (Luke 15:11-24). That’s how God loves us. That’s how God loves you.
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