Pros

update

10 Nov 05

Love

I am Malachi. And this is the message that the LORD gave me for Israel. Israel, I, the LORD, have loved you. And yet you ask in what way have I loved you. (Malachi 1:1-2)

Malachi’s first words were to remind the people that God loved them. The fact that God loved his people is written on every page of the Bible so why should Malachi need to remind them of it?

When things are hard (3:11), when the righteous are suffering and the wicked seem to prosper (2:17) and when human love is failing (2:14), people tend to doubt God's love. Malachi's starting point is to remind them of God's care.

It is a good principle in the world of sport to remind ourselves of the basics. When your form dips, go back to basics. Amateur golfers often look for complicated solutions to their problems. Their coach is likely to start by checking the grip, stance and posture. Back to basics.

When things are hard for us – whether it is injury, not feeling valued, not getting a new contract, losing our job, coming to the end of our career – it is easy for us to forget that God loves us. We may wonder if God is punishing us for something.

We need to be reminded that our identity and value is in Christ and that God loves us in the good times and the bad. Remember as Philip Yancey said. “There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less”.


Graham and Stuart

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