Love and Faithfulness
“For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.
The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.”
Psalm 33:4-5
Last night, my 10-year-old son said something to his younger sister that he should not have. Of course, his younger sister let me know what he said as quickly as she could. Well, I about came unglued when I heard what he said to her. This was something that I had to get my husband involved in. Our son needed to learn a lesson on what comes out of your mouth is a direct reflection of who you are.
As we were disciplining him for what he said, he voiced to us that he was a terrible person for saying this. That got our attention and the lesson learned went even deeper. You see, we had gone to church earlier that day and our preacher taught on being a disciple. One thing he taught was that a disciple is a student. As Christians we never graduate to being the teacher, we are always learning. We are continuously being molded into mature Christians and we are always learning through our life lessons, mistakes, and studies.
We explained to our son that, yes, we all say things we wish we could take back, and we all do things we regret, but we still love him and that doesn't make him a terrible person.
As I read Psalm 33:4-5 the words spoke to me about who God truly is. These two verses speak volumes on God’s love for His people.
God’s royal Word, by which He governs all things is right and true. There is no chaos in His Word, there is nothing devious about it, He does not regret a single thing in it, and there is nothing false in it. God’s Word is a direct reflection of who He is and the love He has for us. He did not put us on earth without a manual to live by. He did not throw us into this world without step-by-step instruction on how to survive in a fallen world and how to have a true relationship with Him. As we go out into the world, our words are to be direct reflections of who we are, disciples of Christ. The English Standard Version of the Bible uses the word “upright". The Hebrew word for “upright” is yashar and it is translated as “straight” or “level”. It emphasizes that God’s words are honest and trustworthy. Because Christ is in us, what comes out of us should be honest and trustworthy, just like His Words. Unfortunately, we know not every word out of our mouths is honest and trustworthy, I mean let’s face the facts, mistakes will happen. As I’ve said before, we are not perfect, but I am so thankful that I can trust that what God says to us will always be honest and trustworthy.
God is our just and righteous judge. Righteousness describes what is doing right while justice is related to God’s judgement. This verse tells us God delights in doing what is right and just. He delights in doing good for His people. His love for us is unfailing. UNFAILING! That’s pretty amazing. There is nothing on earth that is unfailing. Things break, our bodies break down and die, there is dishonesty, disappointment, and cruelty. Unfailing means to not fall short of expectation, completely dependable, and endless. As we read in verse 4, God’s words are honest and true. We know it is true that His love for us in unfailing. We can always expect His love and can completely depend on it being there. Does that make us feel blessed or does that bring on a sense of guilt? Do we say to ourselves that we are terrible people the way our son did?
When we make mistakes, God knows our heart. He knows when we are being intentionally deceitful and when we say things we don’t mean. By being open with God and sharing our mistakes with Him, through confession and repentance, we are accepting His love. The same way we sat down with our son and explained why what He said was not a good thing to say, told him his consequence, and then showed that regardless of what he says and does we will always love him; God shows us His love.
This Valentine’s Day, be filled with the fact that God loves us so much that He gave us the gift of His trustworthy Word and His unfailing love that is filled with righteousness and justice. When we understand that we are disciples that are perpetually learning and growing, and we will make mistakes along the way, God’s unfailing love is much more appreciated. I’m sure He is disgusted by words that come out of my mouth at times, and yet His love for me is endless. That is a love that cannot be beat during this holiday of love. Look for God’s unfailing love in your life. It is there in every circumstance, and it is always trustworthy.
Digging Deeper:
What have you done that you feel is too big for God to love you?
How is God showing His love to you?
How can you let go of your mistakes so you can accept God’s love?