A Love God Delights In

READ: MICAH 7:18-20; ROMANS 8:31-39 Have you ever wondered if your sin is more than God could forgive? You’re not alone. We’ve all had moments when we’ve felt and seen the darkness in our own hearts and minds and wondered, How could God still love me? Sometimes we might feel as though God only forgives us because Jesus paid for our sin at the cross—so, you know, He kind of has to. But maybe He doesn’t like it. Maybe our sin has made God weary. In the Old Testament, the biblical authors have a favorite Hebrew word to describe God’s love: hesed. Most of our Bible translations translate this word as either “steadfast love,” “mercy,” or “lovingkindness.” The word hesed conveys the idea that God’s love is unfailing. In Micah 7:18, the prophet Micah declares that God delights in steadfast love. Did you catch that? It doesn’t weary God to love us. It’s a source of delight and pleasure for God to love us with His unfailing love! A passage like this frees us to be completely honest with ourselves before God. It allows us to look unflinchingly at the depths of our sin and to go before God with all our wrongs to confess, repent, and cry out for mercy. It allows us to be filled with the sweet confidence that when we do, it brings God delight to respond with His never-failing, never-stopping, steadfast love! • Jonathon Fuller • How can Bible passages like today’s shape our understanding of who God is? • Consider taking a few moments to examine your own heart before the Lord. You don’t have to be afraid to be honest with yourself as you look at your sin. Are there any sins that you feel as though God may not forgive? You can confess all those sins to God, repent (or turn away) from them, and then rest in the knowledge that God delights in forgiving and loving you with His unfailing love! • If you want to dig deeper, read Psalm 18:19; Ephesians 1:5; 5:25; Hebrews 12:2. You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love. Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! Micah 7:18-19 (NLT)