Believing God Loves You SLBC Ladies Garden Party

Problem: Poor God Image “Our problem isn't so much a poor self image as it is a poor God image. Our need is not to love ourselves more but to receive His incredible love for us and to accept His design and purpose for our lives.” Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth Lies Women Believe

Basic Human Needs 1. The need to be loved 2. The need to feel significant God has filled both of these needs in Jesus Christ. He loves us with an infinite, incomprensible love. Romans 5:8 - “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God Loves You Hannah Whitall Smith says, “Put together all the tenderest love you know of, the deepest you have ever felt, and the strongest that has ever been poured out upon you, and heap upon it all the love of all the loving human hearts in the world, and then multiply it by infinity and you will begin, perhaps, to have some faint glimpse of what the love of God is.” Hannah Whitall Smith

Old Testament: “Hesed” Definition of “Hesed”- translated lovingkindness, steadfast love, covenant love, loyal love. God's “hesed” denotes persistent and unconditional tenderness, kindness, and mercy, a relationship in which He seeks after man with love and mercy. Hesed is not merely love, but loyal love; not merely kindness, but dependable kindness; not merely affection, but affection that has committed itself.

Old Testament: “Hesed” The Lord declares His “hessed” 246 times in in the Old Testament. Psalm 103:11 Psalm 36:5 Lamentations 3:22-23

“Hesed” in the New Testament The Hebrew word "hesed” or “lovingkindness" does not occur in the NT but the English equivalents would include "mercy" "goodness," "kindness," "brotherly love". Some Texts in which God expresses His “mercy” Ephesians 2:4-5 Ephesians 3:17-19 John 17:23 x

Basic Human Need: Significance 42% women (believers) surveyed by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth said they struggle with this lie: “I'm not worth anything.”

Jesus based His worth on God's opinion of Him. Jesus was rejected by those he came to save but he did not let the opinion of others determine His worth. He based his worth on God's opinion. 1 Peter 2:4 - “As you come to Him the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him.

We are acceptable to God because of our faith in Jesus Romans 5:1 - “By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at peace with God.” CSV John 14:27 - “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

Reasons why we struggle to BELIEVE that God loves us unconditionally Demanding or perfectionist parent Unloving, absent or uninvolved parent Past sin We assume God's love is fleeting and whimsical like our love. Unanswered Prayer

Conclusion In our next session: 1. Personal testimony of my struggle to believe God's love for me and the consequences in my life. 2. A look into Scripture of what happened to the Israelites when they refused to believe God.