Start with His love for you!

As a single mom, sometimes the circumstances that brought you to raising your children without a full-time father (widowed, divorced, single mother), have left you feeling unloved and in some cases, unlovable. You know in your heart, that this is not how it is supposed to be. It is God’s design for you to thrive in a loving, intimate relationship where you are embraced and accepted for who you are. Without it, you may feel adrift, lacking foundation, and yearning for more. God can and wants to be that more in your life.

Where do you start when you desire a find that intimate and sustaining relationship with God? Start with His love for you. God’s love for you is personal and encompasses all that you are. God loves you in your brokenness and longs to redeem you. He wants you to accept His love in faith and see yourself as loved. He desires a real relationship with you where He can demonstrate His love for you each and every day. Just like you hug your kids as they go out the door each morning to show them your love, He wants to embrace you each day to show His love for you.

See Yourself as Loved

My paster has said that in his many years of ministry, the people he sees struggling the most are those who cannot see themselves as God sees them. They cannot accept that God loves them because they do not see themselves as loveable. To start seeing yourself as loved, you need to bring your thoughts in line with God’s view of you as expressed in the Bible. The love of God is the central theme of His book. God knew that we would need to see it, in writing, again and again that He loves us. We need to see the examples of God working in the lives of individuals and nations, redeeming them, saving them from calamities, and providing a refuge for them. From His careful crafting of a beautiful home for Adam and Eve in Genesis to the marriage supper of the Lamb in Revelation, God is shouting out His love for you and me.

In Ephesians 1:4, Paul tells us that “he chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight”. Isn’t that incredible! You did not just stumble upon God. He had you in mind while He was creating your earthy home. He sent Christ to die for you. When you accepted Christ as your savior, He redeemed you for Himself and now sees you as holy and blameless. This is a great verse to memorize as you start to see yourself as loved. When Satan rears his ugly head making you doubt God’s love, throw this verse at him.

God Accepts Our Brokenness

As you read and spend time studying the Old Testament, you will begin to see the pattern of repentance and redemption woven throughout the books. It is so clear that God loves broken people. We watch the Israelites mess up, go worship other gods, and then come crying back to God when life gets rough. Again and again, God forgives and takes his wayward children back. They are back on the path of blessings, living the good life, until they mess up again.

Think about how you feel when your children mess up, disobey and disappoint you. You do not stop loving them. You hurt when you see them making decisions that could sabotage their future happiness, but you have compassion on their inexperience and immaturity. In Malachi 3:17, God says, “I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son”. The love in your hearts for your children is an example to you of the love that God has for you even in your disobedience and imperfection.

Accept His Love in Faith

There will be many days when it will require you to exercise your faith to lean into that love. The days the tears fall, and the worries stalk you. God sees you and hears your pain. I used to cry again and again for God to hear me. Surely He would not let me suffer if He was listening to me. I realize now that I was failing to accept God’s love in faith when I doubted that He was even listening to me. He heard every cry and captured every tear. He hears you, darling daughter, and He cares for you.

In I John 4:16, the Bible says that we can “know and rely on the love God has for us”. As a single mother, I felt many times like I had no one I could rely on. What a beautiful promise that God says you can rely on Him. The Lord is committed to you. He will be there for you and your children. Accept His love in faith and lean into that promise to you.

Write It On Your Heart

This week, start to strengthen your relationship with God by focusing on His love for you. Try googling Bible verses about God’s love. Find a couple that speak to you and commit them to memory. Write them on cards and post them in your home or office. Let that assurance of His love start to build a foundation in your heart for the relationship you want with God. Take a few moments each day to see God’s love in His word, in nature, in your children, in His provision for you and accept it as a warm hug from your Heavenly Father. Start today to see yourself as loved and holy in His eyes. Dwell on these thoughts, drink them in, and let them find a home in your heart.