A love I can't stop

The other day, both girls were eating their breakfast and I was washing dishes. I looked over to see Piper about to tip her bowl off her high chair tray.

“No, no, Piper,” I chided, waiting to see if maybe this time she would choose to obey.

She looked straight at me with a “Just try and stop me” gleam in her eye.

I tried to make it there in time, yelling, “NO!” as I reached to stop the soggy granola from blanketing the floor AGAIN, but I was too late.

Frustrated, I scolded Piper, then bent down to clean up the mess, AGAIN.

 “But Mommy, do you still love her?”

Stunned, I turned to the soft, worried voice of the 3-year-old big sister who had watched all of this unfold. My answer didn’t require thinking.

“Yep.”

“Good,” she smiled, taking another bite of her cereal.

She was worried that because Piper had disobeyed me, I no longer loved her.

That is ridiculous.

My love for my children is something so deep, so unconditional, and so something I can’t stop.

I was suddenly floored by how this helps me better understand God’s love for me.

He loves me so deeply, so unconditionally, and He can’t stop loving me, even when I look Him in the eye and say, “I choose to disobey you.”

He hates it when I make that choice. He even runs after us and screams, “NO!”

But he’s still going to help us pick the pieces of soggy granola off the high chair wheels, AGAIN.

And yes, he is still going to love us.

“For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5 NASB).

“Who is a God like You who pardons sin and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. He will have compassion on us; He will tread our sins underfoot” (Micah 7:18-19a NASB).

I tell my children that when they obey me, they are showing me their love.

It’s the same way with God.

His love makes me want to love Him back through obedience.

“If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you” (John 14:15 MSG).

One of the most important commands we’ve been given is to go out and share the Good News of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection with those who have not heard.

 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16 NIV).

Don’t hide your light.