It’s difficult not to have courage when we fully grasp how deep God’s love is for us. As the Bible says, “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” (Romans 8:31).
When I was saved at age nineteen, my eternity was sealed. But my spiritual growth was just beginning. I knew little about the depth of God’s love for me, and I had no clue as to why I needed to understand it. Over the years following, my walk with the Lord moved at a snail’s pace, until difficulties in life caused me to develop a desperate need for a closer relationship with Christ.
I’ve experienced quite a few life storms over the years, storms that drove me into the arms of God, desperately seeking shelter. Looking back, I can see how God used those storms to help me grasp the magnitude of His love. Without His presence providing love, comfort, and reassurance during those times, I am convinced I would have fallen into even greater sin and suffering.
Eventually, I studied His Word with more prayerful intention, and the deeper I dug, the more I fell in love. And the more I fell in love, the deeper I wanted to go. The more I studied, the more I grasped God’s love and relationship with humankind and with me – personally.
Without a personal relationship with the Creator of this universe, we are walking through life blind to the possibilities of all God has in store for us. With a personal relationship, we are promised an abundance of joy, hope, peace, and love everything we need to find our courage: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13 NASB).
To learn more about grasping God’s love and the Seven Steps to COURAGE, check out my book Courage For Life.