In this episode, I share more about how this truth has played out in my own life — and the steps you can take to make it real in yours.
Why We Think God Lessens His Love
👉🏻 This can be caused by the belief that:
God’s love depends on our performance.
God is fickle, harsh, and demanding.
And so we may assume things like:
“I did something wrong”
“I didn’t measure up”
“God is disappointed”
These thoughts can then lead to anxiety, self-blame, guilt, or a sense of hopelessness.
The Truth About God’s Love
👉🏻 It’s covenantal – a binding agreement. This means that, when God makes a promise, He doesn’t break it.
❤️🔥 Also, God’s love is rooted in His character – not our performance or emotions.
Scripture includes numerous instances where God remained faithful to His people – even when they’ve disobeyed, sinned against, or outright rejected Him.
🧕🏻 Example #1: Sarah, the wife of Abraham:
🔗 In Genesis 17 (NLT), God appears to 99-year-old Abraham and establishes a covenant with him.
In verse 2, God says, “I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”
In verses 7-8, God goes on to say, “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
👶🏻 God then gets even more specific:
In verses 15-16 He says, “Regarding Sarai, your wife—her name will no longer be Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah. And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants.”
🧓 Abraham is 99-years-old. His wife, Sarah, is 89-years-old.
They have no children.
And having one now seems impossible from a human perspective, given their ages.
But God makes His promise clear.
🗓️ Time passes and then, one day, the couple is visited by some travelers.
In Genesis 18:10, we read: Then one of them said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!”
🤣 Sarah’s reaction was to doubt the words of this prophetic traveler (whom many believe to be the Lord or an angel in disguise) – but to reject the earlier promise God had made.
In the rest of verse 10 and through 12, we read: “Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent. Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children. So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?”
👉🏻 God could’ve distanced Himself from Sarah and Abraham. He could have broken His covenant with them – and never given them a son.
But that’s not what God did – because God’s promises are covenantal. Their binding agreements from a loving, good God.
In fact, God immediately double-downs on His promise. In verses 13-14, we read: Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
And later on in Genesis 21:1-3 we see that promise fulfilled, “The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. And Abraham named their son Isaac.”
🐫 Example #2: The Israelites in the wilderness.
God:
Does numerous miracles to free them from Pharoah
Compels the Egyptian people to give the Israelites great wealth before they leave
Saves them from Pharoah’s army by opening the waters of the Red Sea
😤 …and yet the people constantly grumble and doubt God’s protection and provision. (And thus His character.)
💗 Yet throughout it all – including turning away from God to worship the golden calf at Mount Sinai – God kept His covenant.
He kept providing, and protecting, and loving them.
Action Step
👉🏻 Take my free quiz: What's Your First Step to Fully Experiencing God’s Love?.
This quick, 5-question quiz will reveal the top challenge for you in this area AND equip you with a breakthrough strategy.
