by: Nicole Smithee

God is love. The love of God is not transactional. The love He gives us is not determined by our actions, but instead, by who He is. He is love; and because it’s who He is, there will never be a shortage of His love in our lives.

For years, I struggled to comprehend this radical truth.

God’s love towards us will never be revoked. He will never love us more than He does today. In fact, He never grew or fell in love with us. We did absolutely nothing to earn His love. He has simply loved us always, completely and perfectly. In other words, He loves me entirely, just as I am.

When I opened my heart and mind to this wild truth, and let it spread to every area of my life, the need to perform in life for acceptance began to weaken. People pleasing lost its tight grip on me. The need to always be in control continues to shrivel away. And the chains of guilt and shame are broken as well. Because of the unconditional love of God that is complete in every way, a can now live free and at peace. I am enough, because His love says that I am.

So, hear this, friend: You are loved just as you are. No need to perform. No need to prove something. You have always been loved, even though you may not have known it. You are loved completely at this very moment, and for all eternity you will be loved perfectly. So today, whatever your experiences have been, whatever you may have been told, whatever your current situation is, wherever you are in your faith journey, I pray you open heart to believe it and receive for yourself the very personal, radical, and unconditional love of God.