6. The Lens of Love…
Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.
Psalm 25:7
Have you ever visited one of those halls of mirrors where you are short, tall, thin, wide, distorted depending on which mirror you look in? They are fun and you can move on to the next mirror to get a nicer view if you don’t like what you see. The views are not permanent and don’t really reflect the true you.
But what if God could only look at us through the lens of justice and punishment? What if that reflection was the only true one? Through the lens of wrath for our sins? That would be a very ugly picture indeed. (Romans 6:23)
In Psalm 25 David pleads with God to remember him not through the eyes of wrath and anger for his rebellious ways but through the lens of a different mirror, the lens of love and grace. He asks God to:
Turn to me and be gracious to me (Psalm 25:16)
When God sent Jesus to live and die on this earth, he was seeing us through the lens of his love, grace, and goodness. According to his love he extended grace to us and forgave our sins through the atonement for sin made once, and for all time and people. This atonement was made through Jesus in his death and resurrection.
God’s love for you and I looks beyond our sins, our rebellion, which repeat themselves daily. He sees us through the lens of his saving love. He sees us not as twisted, distorted by sin, but as cleansed, beautiful, perfect.
For by one sacrifice, he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy
Hebrews 10:14
A number of years ago I was struggling in my faith and my identity as God’s child (John 1:12) and decided to take some time out with God. As I spent time with him God gave me a new name “daughter” reminding me that I was his precious child. He also revealed to me a new identity – his yellow rose, beautiful, perfect, colourful, perfumed. In that time, he poured out his love on me reminding me that, regardless of my failings, he loved me as his own. Today, when I am feeling down, rejected, alone, I remember that I am God’s daughter, his beautiful yellow rose and nothing can change how God sees me.
Prayer: Lord, my prayer today is that of David’s: “Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.” I stand humbled and in awe of you, that because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, you now see me only through the pure and perfect lens of love and grace.
Amen.
Action: Today, every time you look in a mirror and note this imperfection or that one, remember that the image God sees is perfect, made possible through the sacrifice of Jesus and his great love for you.
Journal your thoughts…
