Can't Believe God Loves Me

[colormebeautiful]

Hi All,

I am a Christian. I gave my life to Jesus a year ago, and in my head I believe all the stuff about him being raised from the dead and stuff. I just find myself unable to believe that God loves me, that Jesus loves me so much that he would die for me. Maybe he died for everyone else and not just me. I hate myself and think I don't deserve anyone's love.

Any thoughts?

 

[seajoy]

Wow, you sound just like me! Or, more like I used to sound, anyway.

All of God's promises are true...not just some of them...ALL of them. Most especially He wants us to know we are loved.
Please read Psalm 103...tonight! Here is just a small part ....slow to anger, abounding in love....from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear Him. Before all that...in verse 4 ...crowns you with love and compassion.

This is not for someone else, dear one...this is for you, and me!

Why do you hate yourself so?
You are made in God's Image. He made you, and you are special.

Jesus died for you...or He wouldn't have bothered to make you!

God bless you!
seajoy

 

[jsimms615]

Hi All,

I am a Christian. I gave my life to Jesus a year ago, and in my head I believe all the stuff about him being raised from the dead and stuff. I just find myself unable to believe that God loves me, that Jesus loves me so much that he would die for me. Maybe he died for everyone else and not just me. I hate myself and think I don't deserve anyone's love.

Any thoughts?

I've always struggled with feeling unworthy of His love and the love of others, so I can relate to what your saying. It would be a worthy goal for you to get into some counseling and to talk to someone about why you feel that way about yourself. That kind of negative self-talk isn't healthy. I have been doing it a lot longer than you and can testify to that. I am just starting to change and try to "caught myself in the act of negative self-talk" and then stop that behavior and beginning trying to be more positive.
Jesus did die for you and that says something about how much you are valued.
If you want to talk further I would be glad to talk to you. Just PM me. God bless you.

 

[junezephyr]

Those thoughts are not from God- He loves you and you are acceptable because of the blood of Jesus.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8

Christ died for us, meaning both me and you, and anyone who calls upon His name. You are a special person, and thank God that He knows us better than we do ourselves, and He knows the individual personality that He's created for you.

We can have negative opinions of ourselves, but our self-opinions do not equate truth. The truth is that God has crafted us, and we are His children, and Christ's sacrifice makes us worthy of His love. It is God's mercy for us. It's best to uproot those negative feelings and cast them away, because in Christ we're alive and made acceptable. God loves for us surpasses anything we can imagine!

Jesus said, "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love." (John 15:10)

 

[Godsgurl08]

I know how you feel, because I still feel the same way. I guess that we are so used to the human love (meaning if I did somethign wrong you would treat me badly. and if I did it over and over and over again to you, you would curse me and ditch me) but Jesus is not like that. No matter what you did to Him, He still loves You. I am still trying to grasp that concept. Whenever I feel this way, I listen to I Need You to Love Me by BarlowGirl...I hope this helps you...but you can also pray about...I'll be praying for you, and if you need anything, just PM and I'll be happy to help you

Here's the link to the song/video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pu1j2W_eBc

 

[BigToe]

I feel that way sometimes too. Or like somehow I don't deserve to be able to call myself a Christian. Not because I think others somehow deserve it, it's weird. I think I'm uncomfortable with the idea of being loved unconditionally because a lot of those in my life who are supposed to love me no matter what have left and hurt me most.

 

[AWorkInProgress]

Hi All,

I am a Christian. I gave my life to Jesus a year ago, and in my head I believe all the stuff about him being raised from the dead and stuff. I just find myself unable to believe that God loves me, that Jesus loves me so much that he would die for me. Maybe he died for everyone else and not just me. I hate myself and think I don't deserve anyone's love.

Any thoughts?

Heya,

Jesus died for all of us, not all of us excluding colormebeautiful. Lets look at Paul, the man used his faith to stone to death first members of Christ's church and tossed others in jail. Jesus did not throw some fireball or lightning bolt to kill him, but instead took the scales off his eyes. Paul was forgiven and spent rest of his life serving Jesus in establishing the church for Gentiles. Jesus loves us all, no matter how much you think you sinned. (Acts 9)

What doesn't love you is this hate toward yourself. Whatever is causing it is trying to condemn yourself and believe that you are not worthy of Jesus' sacrifice.

I don't know what is causing it, but please learn to forgive yourself for what you think you have done. Forgiveness is freedom, and you need to be free from this self hate.

I heard a great serman one day trying to deminstrate God's love for us and how much patience he will show to bring as many of us to him. We all know Sodom and Gomorrah, but what I missed was that god met with Abraham before heading to Sodom for judgement. Abraham had family in Sodom so he carefully asked God if he found 50 godly men within the walls, would he spare city Judgement. God said I will, then Abraham asked constantly till he got it down to 10 godly men within walls of Sodom. For all the horrible sinners in Sodom, God would hold his judgement if there was a hope of 10 godly men among them. As we all know, only 4 that where there, but shows how much patience and hope God has that everyone can be brought to him. (Genesis 18)

We are here for you if need some help sister. I will pray for you.

 

[seajoy]

Since I can't gives reps to "Aworkinprogress' I'll just say it here for all to see....that was a great post!

Colorme, and everyone else here...these words are for all of us!

 

[junezephyr]

Heya,

Jesus died for all of us, not all of us excluding colormebeautiful. Lets look at Paul, the man used his faith to stone to death first members of Christ's church and tossed others in jail. Jesus did not throw some fireball or lightning bolt to kill him, but instead took the scales off his eyes. Paul was forgiven and spent rest of his life serving Jesus in establishing the church for Gentiles. Jesus loves us all, no matter how much you think you sinned. (Acts 9)

What doesn't love you is this hate toward yourself. Whatever is causing it is trying to condemn yourself and believe that you are not worthy of Jesus' sacrifice.

I don't know what is causing it, but please learn to forgive yourself for what you think you have done. Forgiveness is freedom, and you need to be free from this self hate.

I heard a great serman one day trying to deminstrate God's love for us and how much patience he will show to bring as many of us to him. We all know Sodom and Gomorrah, but what I missed was that god met with Abraham before heading to Sodom for judgement. Abraham had family in Sodom so he carefully asked God if he found 50 godly men within the walls, would he spare city Judgement. God said I will, then Abraham asked constantly till he got it down to 10 godly men within walls of Sodom. For all the horrible sinners in Sodom, God would hold his judgement if there was a hope of 10 godly men among them. As we all know, only 4 that where there, but shows how much patience and hope God has that everyone can be brought to him. (Genesis 18)

We are here for you if need some help sister. I will pray for you.

Great post James

He's right, colormebeautiful. Forgiveness is essential, and the Lord has already forgiven you.

 

[AWorkInProgress]

Since I can't gives reps to "Aworkinprogress' I'll just say it here for all to see....that was a great post!

Colorme, and everyone else here...these words are for all of us!

Thanks ladies.

Sorry bout the Rep bar being gone. Lets just say I removed it to help keep me humble.

 

[Mask]

I know how you feel too. I guess my head knows that God loves me but my heart is to scared to believe it...something like that! It's just to hard sometimes to believe something good about yourself, like you deserve anything good. Even when I try, like accepting a compliment, as soon as the thought of believing it and maybe taking it and feeling good about it comes...WHAM...one second later the thought comes to reject it...don't believe that nice thing about yourself...that's not true...they are lying or just trying to say something nice...don't accept it...you don't deserve it!!! What is all that CRAP about?? How do you shut that off?? I'm like Jeckle and Hyde! The angel and the demon on your two shoulder wispering in your ear! It just doesn't stop!

I'll shut up now sorry if I took over your post colormebeautiful!

 

[colormebeautiful]

Mask - don't worry about it. I know exactly what you're talking about. What helps for me is to challenge the negative thoughts. I can't stop them from coming up, but when they do, I can challenge them - when the negative voice tells me I don't deserve it, I tell it to shut up, that I do deserve it. It's hard, I know.

Have you thought about doing some work in a therapy/counseling setting? It's done wonders for me. PM me if you want to talk - I'll pray for you.

Thanks everyone for the awesome responses. I know that I'll never be able to believe God loves me if I don't stop hating myself. It's hard, but I think I'm already starting to have that a little. Again thanks everyone for the support. and AWorkInProgress- that was a beautiful post.

 

[Mask]

Thanks colormebeautiful. I've tried councelling. I went to a secular one before I got saved and we had a few sessions and he thought I did so well that I didn't need to come back! I couldn't believe it! I felt a little relief from the sessions but I certainly didn't feel like much was done. I gave up on that then. Then later on I had christian councelling...that pretty much ended up the same way. Just because I've become good at keeping myself in control in the everyday stuff, people don't think I'm all that bad off, that I don't really need that much councelling. There has really only been one time in the last few years that I totally couldn't control my emotions and thoughts. I had to drop my committements for a few weeks. I couldn't stop crying!!! I did see a doctor at that point. She believed that I was depressed but just wanted to wait to see if things got better, they did, so we didn't do anything else. I live in a yo-yo! Up and down, but with some down in there all the time. I probably do need more councelling but there doesn't seem to be much options here where I live. I probably would feel weird going to a non-christian one now. They couldn't understand some of the pressures that I feel because of being a christian (know what I mean?). I feel trapped! Stuck! I want out but I don't know what to do. I've always felt like people don't HEAR me!! They say they hear me but they really don't hear me! I find it sad but I'm just not getting the help I need from the church. Where do you go then??

 

[colormebeautiful]

Try this website - it has a very comprehensive search for therapy for everything - there's a Spirituality tab too.

Most therapists/counselors will do a phone interview, and if they aren't with a Christian group, you can ask them if they do Spirituality work too and if they are Christian or not. When I started working with my current therapist, I didn't know she was a Christian until I told her I was - and now that is an important part of our work together! I think for you finding someone who will listen without judgement and will be able to understand your religion is very important.

I think it's strange for a doctor to know that you are depressed and just 'wait and see' if things get better. If a doctor or therapist isn't working out for you, you don't have to keep seeing them! My current therapist is my 3rd, my psychiatrist is my 2nd, and my primary care physician is my 4th or 5th. If you are still feeling this way, I think you need help, and I don't think you should stop just because things "get better". You should probably be on some kind of medication just to level things out for a little while so you can see what's going on.

But no matter what finding a counselor/therapist is the most important thing! Talking about how I feel and why I feel that way has been a tremendous help for me.

I will keep praying for you. God bless you!

 

[colormebeautiful]

And I forgot - here is one of my favorite Scripture verses. I think it will help you.

1 Corinthians 4:3 (NIV)

I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.

I find it inspiring that Paul relies solely on the judgement, mercy, and love of God - that he doesn't even judge himself.

 

[junezephyr]

And I forgot - here is one of my favorite Scripture verses. I think it will help you.

1 Corinthians 4:3 (NIV)



I find it inspiring that Paul relies solely on the judgement, mercy, and love of God - that he doesn't even judge himself.

That verse contains so much freedom!

 

[seajoy]

That verse contains so much freedom!

Indeed!!!

 

[Mask]

That verse sounds great, BUT it seems so impossible for me! I am I own worst critic and enemy! If I could get away from myself I'd be good ! You said that Paul relied solely on the judgement, mercy and love of God. When I read that all I see is the judgement of God! I didn't even notice the mercy or love part until I read it a few times! I'm not in sin or anything like that but I always feel like I'm being judged. I always wondering if I'm doing things right or not...usually assuming I'm wrong! I quess in my childhood, my whole life hinged on whether I was good or not! If you weren't good, you could be shipped out the next day! So my whole life has been trying to be good and please everyone! I'm always trying to please God as well...but I getting very confused as to what really pleases Him. I'm getting Him and people mixed up together. I think I've been guilted in to DOING, because I've been made to believe that, that's what pleases God...service. sacrifice of one's time and talents (I'm sure some of that must be true). Would God still love me if I didn't do anything else for Him??? Maybe He still would but in my mind probably not as much as the other person who is doing and giving more for Him? What do you think? Is this crazy thinking or what?

 

[seajoy]

That verse sounds great, BUT it seems so impossible for me! I am I own worst critic and enemy! If I could get away from myself I'd be good ! You said that Paul relied solely on the judgement, mercy and love of God. When I read that all I see is the judgement of God! I didn't even notice the mercy or love part until I read it a few times! I'm not in sin or anything like that but I always feel like I'm being judged. I always wondering if I'm doing things right or not...usually assuming I'm wrong! I quess in my childhood, my whole life hinged on whether I was good or not! If you weren't good, you could be shipped out the next day! So my whole life has been trying to be good and please everyone! I'm always trying to please God as well...but I getting very confused as to what really pleases Him. I'm getting Him and people mixed up together. I think I've been guilted in to DOING, because I've been made to believe that, that's what pleases God...service. sacrifice of one's time and talents (I'm sure some of that must be true). Would God still love me if I didn't do anything else for Him??? Maybe He still would but in my mind probably not as much as the other person who is doing and giving more for Him? What do you think? Is this crazy thinking or what?

It's not crazy thinking...unless you are calling me crazy too! Although the Lord has helped me along with this, especially lately.
Yes, God would love you if you did nothing else for Him. Christ already did it all for you! We only do good things now, because God loved us first. It's not the other way around.
I too grew up in a home where I had to do everything right...or else! Our merciful, loving Heavenly Father does not treat us that way. He knows we can't be perfect. Christ was perfect for us. Please rest in that assurance.

 

[aiki]

Hi All,

I am a Christian. I gave my life to Jesus a year ago, and in my head I believe all the stuff about him being raised from the dead and stuff. I just find myself unable to believe that God loves me, that Jesus loves me so much that he would die for me. Maybe he died for everyone else and not just me. I hate myself and think I don't deserve anyone's love.

Any thoughts?

I don't know how you could be truly saved without faith in the fact that God loves you. God's love for you is the fundamental message of the gospel. Sending His Son to die for you on a cross was God's loving act of mercy toward you (and me). If you don't get that, then you haven't understood the message of salvation.

Why do you separate yourself out from everyone else as being beyond God's love? Does it make you feel special in some odd, negative way to be the only one God didn't die for? And what about calling God a liar? That's what we're doing when He says something is true and we say it is not. Do you think God is a liar?

So, you hate yourself. I suppose God is mistaken, then, in loving you? He just doesn't know who you really are, right? Wrong! God doesn't love any of us because of who we are. He loves us because of who He is. We are all born with hearts that are "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked" (Jer. 17:9). The Bible says that when God sent His Son to die for us we were all of us "alienated (from God) and enemies in our minds (toward Him) by wicked works" (Col. 1:21) We did nothing to deserve God's love; He gives it to us freely because He has chosen to.

It is such a relief to know that God's love for me doesn't depend on me. What a catastrophe if it did! He'd never love me! Fortunately for you and me this is not the case. "God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Ro. 5:8) Yahoo!