1 Peter

It takes a profound conversion to accept that God is relentlessly tender and compassionate toward us just as we are — not in spite of our sins and faults (that would not be total acceptance), but with them. Though God does not condone or sanction evil, He does not withhold His love because there is evil in us.

– Brennan Manning

We cannot accept love from another human being when we do not love ourselves, much less accept that God could possibly love us.

– Anonymous

Our courteous Lord does not want His servants to despair because they fall often and grievously; for our falling does not hinder Him in loving us.

– Julian of Norwich

Many Christians…find themselves defeated by the most psychological weapon that satan uses against them. This weapon has the effectiveness of deadly missile. Its name? Low self-esteem. Satan’s greatest psychological weapon is a gut level feeling of inferiority, inadequacy, and low self-worth. This feeling shackles many Christians, in spite of wonderful spiritual experiences and knowledge of God’s Word. Although they understand their position as sons and daughters of God, they are tied up in knots, bound by a terrible feeling of inferiority, and chained to a deep sense of worthlessness.

– David Seamands

But God loves who we really are — whether we like it or not. God calls us, as He did Adam, to come out of hiding. No amount of spiritual makeup can render us more presentable to Him. As Merton said, “The reason we never enter into the deepest reality of our relationship with God is that we so seldom acknowledge our utter nothingness before Him.” His love, which called us into existence, calls us to come out of self-hatred and to step into His truth. “Come to me now,” Jesus says. “Acknowledge and accept who I want to be for you: A Savior of boundless compassion, infinite patience, unbearable forgiveness, and love that keeps no score of wrongs. Quit projecting onto Me your own feelings about yourself. At this moment your life is a bruised reed and I will not crush it, a smoldering wick and I will not quench it. You are in a safe place.”

– Brennan Manning

…love covers a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8 (NLT)

A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

– Isaiah 42:3 (NIV)

Father,

My worth

is tied beautifully to Your complete worthiness

and Your love for me.

Let me not slip into

corrosive thoughts self-degrading

preoccupied

with my failures.

But keep me in

the place

where I know

I’m completely dependent on You

and loved beyond reason.

Surrendered to grace

– Susie Stewart

Photo by Susie Stewart

A world of confusion and disappointment results from trying to believe without obeying. This puts us in the position of a bird trying to fly with one wing. We merely flap in a circle and seek to cheer our hearts with the hope that the whirling ball of fathers is proof that a revival is under way.

– A.W. Tozer

Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.

1 John 5:3 (NLT)

And he is, to them, ‘a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence’. Yes, they stumble at the Word of God for in their hearts they are unwilling to obey it—which makes stumbling a foregone conclusion. But you are God’s “chosen generation”, His “royal priesthood”, His “holy nation”, His “peculiar people”—all the old titles of God’s people now belong to you. It is for you now to demonstrate the goodness of Him who has called you out of darkness into His amazing light. In the past you were not “a people” at all: now you are the people of God. In the past you had no experience of His mercy, but now it is intimately yours.

– 1 Peter 2:7-9 (PHILLIPS)

Jesus said, “I will do what the Father requires of Me, so that the world will know that I love the Father.”

John 14:31 (NLT)

‘Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, so that it may be well with you.’

– Jeremiah 7:23 (AMP)

By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path. I’ve committed myself and I’ll never turn back from living by your righteous order. Everything’s falling apart on me, God; put me together again with your Word. Festoon me with your finest sayings, God; teach me your holy rules. My life is as close as my own hands, but I don’t forget what you have revealed. The wicked do their best to throw me off track, but I don’t swerve an inch from your course. I inherited your book on living; it’s mine forever— what a gift! And how happy it makes me! I concentrate on doing exactly what you say— I always have and always will.

– Psalm 119:111-113 (MSG)

Obedience is the key to real faith.

– Chuck Colson

Photo by Arik Stewart