He LIKES you

I've met far too many people who don't want to be recipients of the good gifts from God. Is that YOU? In some warped way your relationship with Jesus is built on failure. It’s based on your never doing quite enough to earn God’s favor – Oh, you believe you’re saved, but you don’t actually believe that God really likes you. You can quote the song, “Jesus loves me”. But you don’t think that Jesus actually likes you. Let me make this clear! He likes you. He wants to spend time with you. He doesn’t think you’re a failure or a loser or a washed up nobody.

Those of you who are parents, are your kids perfect? Of course not. Do you still love them? Yes. You love them in spite of their imperfections. When your two or three year old brings you a picture and it's all messy and they say, "This is a picture of a cow", you say, "That's perfect!"
What you're saying is, "That's perfect for that stage of your maturity." You're not saying it's Picasso. It's perfect for where you're at.

When my three kids were learning to walk, they stumbled a lot. They'd bump into things, they'd fall down. When my kids fell down, what do you think I'd say to them? "You dummy! Everybody walks! Why can't you walk? You ought to try harder. Get with it!" Do you think I'd scold my kids for stumbling? No.

I'd just help them up again. I love them.
Do you love your children at every stage of their growth? Or are you waiting until they're mature first? Once they reach maturity you'll say, "Now, I love you."

Some of you think God's waiting on you to grow up before He's ever going to smile on you, before He's ever going to give you the thumbs up sign saying, "You're ok! I like you." No, God loves you at every stage of your growth because His unconditional love is unconditional.

You don't have to be perfect for God to love you. He understands you completely. He knows everything about you -- the good, the bad, the ugly -- and He still loves you.

Romans 8:31 (NIV)
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Do you ever doubt that God is for you?