Thankful for God’s Love
“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever.” Psalm 118:1
We all want to be known fully and loved deeply. To truly experience unconditional, unyielding, unconquerable love. In Christ, we have that. His love is unlike anything I’ve known or experienced or even can fully understand. It sees who He knows I’ll become even when I’m at my worst. But I’m most faithful for how it endures and holds tight to me even when God’s had every reason to let me go.
This is one of the things I’m most grateful for this Thanksgiving. This truth—that God’s got me, no matter what—can carry me through whatever I might face this holiday or in the years ahead.
When our family went through a period of unemployment, I rallied against my Savior and accused Him of ignoring my prayers. When a ministry I’d launched showed signs of dying, I acted as if He were uncaring and unfair. When brain cancer began to steal a dear friend from me, I quit talking to Him altogether.
I’ve been moody, distant, angry, and sullen. Yet God’s remained faithful, merciful, patient, and near.
Of all the gifts He’s given me, His steadfast love, chesed, in the original Hebrew, has become most precious, a constant reason to rejoice.
Throughout the Old Testament, scholars have translated chesed numerous ways:
Faithful love
Steadfast love
Loving devotion
Loving kindness
Mercy
Loyalty
Devotion
Favor
Chesed is each of these combined. It’s a faithful, merciful, grace-saturated, covenantal love that remains when we give God every reason to withdraw. It’s an undeserved yet lavished love of a Father to His beloved, a Savior for His redeemed.
This is the love our Father has for us, and it’s one I suspect we’ll never fully understand or be able to describe this side of heaven. It’s a love revealed, in all of its depth and power, in Christ’s death on the cross.
We all have countless reasons for sorrow and discouragement, for frustration and angst. But in Christ, we have even greater reasons for praise. During times of difficulty and blessing, may we, like the psalmist, always proclaim, “We give thanks to our Lord, for He is indeed good. His steadfast, merciful, loyal, and devoted love endures forever.”
Jennifer Slattery is a writer, editor, speaker, and the founder of Wholly Loved Ministries. She writes for Crosswalk, is a multipublished author of Hometown Healing among other titles who also writes articles, Bible studies, and devotions. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall outings with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband. Visit her online at jenniferslatterylivesoutloud.com or book her for your next women’s event.
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