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Stop Trying to Get God to Like You

You don’t have to try really hard to get God to like you because He already deeply, perfectly, unconditionally loves you. You can forget trying to do a bunch of good things to try to get God to like you, because even when you were not trying to do good and were in fact doing a lot of bad and loving every minute of it…when your lifestyle was slapping God in the face, and you cared nothing about Him…He still loved you and gave His very best for you. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

But just because God loves you doesn’t mean that you will access this love, enjoy this love or even walk in freedom because of this love. God loves everyone, but not everyone gets to experience it. How do we tap into this type of love? How do we make it our own? How do we taste its goodness? Well, the end of John 3:16 tell us how to enjoy this agape love—through belief in the Son of God. When you believe that Jesus was sent by God, that He is the way to God and that He was God in our place on the cross, then and only then can you know this kind of love. Do you trust Him with your life? Is He the one you’re trusting in for salvation because you recognize that you’re a sinner who needs a whole lot of help? Or are you still trusting in yourself to be a good person? Basically, to experience and enjoy the love of God you have to accept the love of God.

Hopefully, at some point, the power of God’s love will overwhelm you to the point that you would never settle for God merely liking you! Strive for more. Don’t settle, until you settle in the depths of the Father’s love for you.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that we shouldn’t live holy lives that are pleasing to our God. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t try, or that being a Christian should be easy. The point that I am making is that life change, freedom and victory come from an acknowledgment and response to the love that God already has for us. Love is always the greatest motivator.

So, today, this minute, right here, right now—stop working so hard to get God to like you, and rest in the beautiful, liberating truth that God already loves you.

This article originally appeared here.