Love at One Percent

My son was acting out one morning. So, after chastising him, he had this look of hurt on his face. Then he muttered, “Mummy doesn’t love me anymore”.  I went over to talk with him. I explained why what he did was wrong and why mummy was upset.  Then, I reassured him that even though he was chastised for what he did wrong, I still loved him.  To which he replied, “I love you too but only 1%”.  

So I probe as to why 1%?  He responded that he didn’t like being chastised and because I hurt his feelings he didn’t love me as much.  Not that he hated me, I guess I should be glad for that, lol, but he just didn’t love me as much.  Of course, we had a discussion around that but as usual, it made me wonder.  I then asked myself: When God chastises us, does our love for Him drop to 1%?

Some of you may be thinking “of course not! That is crazy, only little children act in that manner.”  But, let me ask you a question: When you mess up and God happens to chastise you, what is your response?  I know that some of us withdraw and don’t pray or praise as we should.  In other words, we don’t make Him a priority or we just stop communicating with Him. We pout and vent and feel sorry for ourselves, not understanding why a forgiving God would allow these things to happen.  Sometimes, we may avoid church altogether or indulge in “unchristian-like” acts.

Some of us may go the opposite way and try to do “good works”. Attempting to gain back a love from God that was already freely provided through the sacrifice of His son. Thus, taking away His glory.  We may not verbalize that we don’t love God as much. However, our actions can show our love is at 1%, and to coin a popular phrase, “actions speak louder than words”.

I always view my relationship with God like a parent-child relationship and assess how I would react in similar situations.  Not that any earthly human can match up. As God’s ways are far greater than we can think or imagine.  But it helps my weird, little mind to draw correlations.  So as I did with my son in explaining that even though he didn’t love me as much, my love for him didn’t change.  God reminded me at that moment that His love for us never wavers.  Romans 8:38-39(NIV) reminds us that “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

So for those feeling as though there are in the “naughty corner”, IT IS TIME TO COME OUT!  God is faithful, no matter what you do or where you go He still loves and adores you.  He can handle all your doubts, your fears, your anger, and even your pride, He can handle it ALL.  He is so graceful, that He is there waiting patiently for you to come back.  Go to God today and let Him remind you or show you why your love for Him should never be less than 100%.  Be Re-Couraged In Christ. Take a Listen!