Despite the promises that God has told us about His love for us, it can be difficult for some of us to accept it.
Why is that?
I don’t think I’m alone when I say that when you’ve been hurt in a very real way by many people, in a harsh and unforgiving world…it becomes harder and harder to believe that God really loves you.
I know this because I struggled with this for most of my life.
It becomes easy to ask questions like,
“Why did this happen to me?”
“Why didn’t God rescue me from _______?”
“Where was God during ________?”
These are perfectly understandable questions that would be raised for anyone who has been hurt, which is everyone.
One person in the Bible who really struggled with this was Saul.
We know that Saul came from a wealthy family and was “religious” in his obedience to God. When I say “religious,” I mean that he somewhat tried to look like a Christian on the outside but really was struggling on the inside.
Saul never really seemed to fully accept God’s love and that became more evident as he became Israel’s first king appointed by God.
Saul’s struggles can help us understand and point out some of the signs of a person who is having difficulties accepting God’s love into his or her heart.
1. Are you very Compulsive?
One of the major struggles that Saul dealt with as a King was that he was compulsive. He often acted quickly without consulting God and I believe that is largely due to the fact that he never really accepted God’s love into his heart.
This made him very compulsive because he probably felt like he couldn’t trust God, therefore, he did what he wanted, on his timetable.
2. Do you get Jealous easily?
Despite the tremendous blessings God bestowed upon Saul (handsome, tall, and first king of Israel), Saul never really trusted God. When David killed Goliath there was a huge parade!
But what about Saul? He became extremely jealous of David because his one victory trumped all of Saul’s victories. Jealousy is a huge sign that you haven’t fully accepted God’s love.
When we are truly content in our relationship with God, we no longer feel a need to compare ourselves to others. Furthermore, being content in our relationship with God allows us to support and help fellow believers in their walk with God. We then don’t get jealous when they prosper and succeed even if we may not be.
3. Self-doubt and Insecurity?
Saul struggled with self-doubt and insecurity and this particularly showed when he was king. His jealous comparisons with David, his constant lying, and how he often choose his own way over God’s, suggested a person who was struggling with an internal conflict.
Beneath the layers of Saul’s glamourous image, was someone who had a lack of faith in God. Saul never truly accepted God’s love in his heart and when you really think about that, you almost feel sad for him.
What does that say about us?
God can bless us with the most glorious of riches but we can still choose to not fully accept God’s love in our hearts.
Whatever the reasons are that prevent you from fully accepting God’s love, whether its due to a hurt you experienced when you were younger and can’t seem to get over it, whether its due to sin, or maybe you just don’t believe in God to begin with.
Whatever the reason, God will always love you and through a daily process of vocalization, scriptural reading, and prayer, you can begin to take steps to fully accept and experience God’s love in your life, no matter how bad your past was, where you are now, or whatever you have done.
I hope this helped you today. Click here to discover what steps you can do to begin fully accepting God’s love into your heart!
Do you struggle with fully accepting God’s love into your heart?
Blessings,
Peter
Yep. Sometimes I feel like when God hints that he will bless me, I’m making that up in my head and that I really shouldn’t get the blessing nor will I accept it because I feel like such an unworthy person. When it really boils down, that’s why I fear so much. Like my inner be is super resistant in letting God love me an accept it. It’s very sick, but I don’t want to push away God but I fear that I might. Idk it’s confusing.
Hi Nyalah,
I think I can identify with what you’re saying. We feel unworthy because without God, we truly are nothing. We have to be careful here though, feeling unworthy because of either fear like you said or because of our experiences, what people have said about us or made us feel, or even satan, they can all be a source of making us feel unworthy which in that case, isn’t justified.
Recognizing God’s grace, infinite wisdom, power, and finally his love and sacrifice for us would be a better source of our thinking which usually allows us to recognize our unworthiness but doesn’t allow us to stay in that thought because Jesus’s sacrifice changed all of that.
I would pray and ask God to reveal to you your source of fear and why it might be preventing you from allowing and accepting God’s love.
Hope that helps! If you have any more questions, just ask :).
Peter
it is impossible for me at this point. i lived in a beautiful, cool, shady town for almost twenty years…now i live in the ghetto of a horrible city where it is over a hundred degrees every day …90 in my room as i write this at ten o clock. i was forced to move here through no fault of my own. i had a job and friends all gone, my furniture all gone..i basically lost everything. i used to tithe and give generously with love,
now i live in a box and often go without food. i am trapped here and i hate it! it is
unsafe and it is dirty and the noise level is horrendous! i will NEVER tithe again and i will give only when i want to and only when i myself have enough to eat first. i have tried and tired to accept Gods will for my being here but i cannot!!!! and i will not fake it with anyone my deep sorrow and resentment for having lost my beautiful previous life.
Hi Debra,
I’m really sorry to hear about your tough situation. Feel free to message me sometime and I’d love to talk more with you and pray with.
Peter
I want you to understand first of all God really loves and he still loves you. I know right now that it may seem that things are not going the way you planned or intended and everything looks dark and stormy, I just want you to just use this wilderness period of your life to actually seek God, hear his voice and see what he says. His ways are not our ways, neither are his thoughts our thoughts, and don’t let this situation change you in a bad way, but let it build you up and draw lessons from it. He wants you to be stronger, He’s building you up, he’s something greater in store for you and he wants you to be able to handle it, he wants your trust in him to be independent of your situations. Don’t let this situation cause you to lose your faith in God. Remember when God called peter to him (to walk on water), when Peter took his eyes away from God and from his calling and focused on the storm he began to sink, but Peter called onto GOD desperately for deliverance and help. I know your posts from 2 years ago but I still just wanted to comment. Your love for hm should be independent of what is going on around you.
Hi growing up I was emotionally abused, bullied and put down by my family and everyone. One day I decided I had enough so I prayed I asked to help take the pain away although I feel so much better now I still struggle with my insecurities and I wish I could trust God more. How can I feel closer to God and accept his love?
Thank you for posting this. I struggle all the time to accept love. I can give it but cannot accept anyone can love me. I struggle so much.
I am a Christian. I accepted the Lord at a young age. My father was an abusive, fanatical christian. I’ve been disowned so many times by him.
I was also married for 22 years to a man who never showed his love to me. He never held my hand, hugged me or showed affection. The s further hurt me.
I now have someone that adores me and shows me every day. Yet, I still struggle and am afraid to let my guard down. I need so much healing and also struggle with depression at times.
I need to see who I am to my Heavenly Father. I pray he will show me.
Ty this helped
Thank you for writing this. I often, wrongly, feel that I am only saved because I was part of a larger group. That God wouldn’t love me on an individual basis. I know this is wrong thinking, but it totally ties in with my life experiences. I continue to pray that I would know I am loved, so that I can truthfully and honestly tell other people that they are loved – so much so that God sent his only son to die in their place. What awesome Love!
I suffer with insecurities, lack of experiences, shame, and I always questions myself. I was the only girl and my dad ran a concentration game. He was extremely strick. I couldn’t date, socialize with others. So I lack social/communication/relationship skills. I am always on pins and needles. Always feeling inadequate. I feel afraid. I know God loves me and I love him. An excerpt from an image I read says: “The reason you find it hard to believe you’re capable of great things, is because the enemy has taken great care to ensure you’ve had enough attacks, setbacks, pain and failure, that you question yourself.” And that truly describes me. I hate feeling this way. It sometimes causes me to be depressed. I want to and try to get out of this grave/cave; but, feel I don’t know how. I really desire to feel alive and would sincerely love to be married to my husband and share my life with. It has affected me is so many ways professional, health, finances everything. I am always doing for others and don’t even know how to take care of myself. I hide behind being a workaholic and family caregiver. Pray for me. I know God has a purpose for my life spiritually and naturally. I overload myself with taking Christian classes; but, truthfully I need a balances life. I tried sharing this with a few people at church; but, they don’t care to understand. I am tired of of this drained unhappy feeling. I want to feel alive cause right now I feel lost. I know God has a plan, destiny for my life and I want to fulfill His destiny and plan. I know He has loves me. I do identify with Christ; but, I just can’t stop doubting myself. .
Delois, You are not alone…I can relate to every word you wrote here. I was so put down at every turn by my father growing up. I was very obviously his least favorite of 5 kids. I could never do anything that was good enough in his eyes…always being told I was stupid, if I had a brain I’d be dangerous…etc. I have spent my whole life on pins and needles in every circumstance…even when I should be dancing with joy…so afraid I will do or say something to ruin the moment. I know I have been depressed for years, but I silently struggle to fit into daily life with others and hide my self doubt from all, but I catch myself making self deprecating remarks and doubting I can succeed, when the truth is I can and I have most of my life. I know I have deprived myself of so many successes and so much joy thru life because of how I view myself. I pray every day that God will open my eyes to see, finally believe and know for certain His love for me, and that these feelings of self doubt and insufficiency will be taken away from me. I pray for you and all of us who feel this way. We will overcome. Hopeful.
There is a very beautiful book called Gentle and Lowly: the heart of Christ for sinners and sufferers by D Ortlund. Please look into it. It will help you tremendously to see Jesus for how He really is. All our suffering comes from not having a correct understanding of how deeply we are really loved.