{"id":33773,"date":"2018-04-16T18:30:14","date_gmt":"2018-04-17T00:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=33773"},"modified":"2018-04-18T12:23:13","modified_gmt":"2018-04-18T18:23:13","slug":"my-love-you-always-have","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/my-love-you-always-have\/","title":{"rendered":"My Love, You Always Have","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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WHY\u00a0<\/strong>are you sad? Is it because you have blown it again? Is it because you have many faults? Is it because you don’t meet “the standard”?\u00a0<\/p>\n

I understand those feelings. In my younger years, I frequently dealt with scrupulosity\u2014strong overriding guilt for the slightest faults. So, when I left home, I was driven by a nagging need for approval from others because I could never approve of myself, and certainly, God could never approve of me. What my parents, friends, and others thought of me subtly decided whether I was “good” or “bad.” This carried on into my marriage. How my wife looked at me, how my children reacted to me, what my neighbours thought of me… this too decided whether I was “okay” or not. Furthermore, this bled into my ability to make decisions\u2014obsessing over whether I was making the right choice or not.<\/p>\n

Thus, when I failed to meet “the standard” in my mind, my reaction was often a blend of self-pity, self-deprecation, and anger. Underlying it all was a burgeoning fear that I was\u00a0not the man I should be, and therefore, quite unlovable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But God has done much in recent years to heal and liberate me from this terrible oppression. They were such convincing lies because there was always a kernel of truth in them. No, I am not perfect. I am<\/em> a sinner. But that truth alone is enough for Satan to prey upon vulnerable minds, like mine, whose faith in God’s love was not yet deep enough.<\/p>\n

That’s when that lying serpent comes to such souls in their moment of crises:<\/p>\n

“If you are a sinner,” he hisses, “then you cannot be pleasing to God! Doesn’t His Word say that you should be\u00a0“holy, as he is holy”?\u00a0<\/em>That you must be “perfect, as he is perfect”?\u00a0<\/em>Nothing unholy will enter Heaven. So how can you be in God’s presence right now if you are unholy? How can\u00a0He be in you if you are sinful? How can you please Him if you are so unpleasing? You are nothing but a wretch and worm, a… failure.”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

You see how powerful those lies are? They seem like truth. They sound like the Scriptures. They are at best half-truths, at worst, outright\u00a0lies.\u00a0<\/em>Let’s take them apart one by one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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I. If you are a sinner, you cannot be pleasing to God.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

I am the father of eight children. They are so different from one another. They all have strengths and weaknesses. They have their virtues, and they have their faults. But I love all of them without condition. Why? Because they are mine. They are mine. That’s all!\u00a0They are mine.<\/em>\u00a0Even when my son fell into pornography, which really messed up his relationships and the harmony within our home, it never stopped my love for him (read\u00a0The Late Consecration<\/em><\/a>).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

You are the Father’s child. Today, right now, He simply says:<\/p>\n

(Insert your name<\/span>), you are Mine. My love, you always have.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you want to know what is most displeasing to God? It’s not your sins. Do you know why? Because the Father didn’t send His Son to save a perfect humanity, but a fallen one. Your sins do not “shock” Him, so to speak. But here is what\u00a0truly displeases the Father: that after all Jesus has done through His Cross, you would still doubt His goodness.<\/p>\n

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My <\/strong><\/em>child, all your sins have not wounded My Heart as painfully as your present lack of trust does that after so many efforts of My love and mercy, you should still doubt My goodness.<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0\u2014Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul<\/em>, Diary, n. 1486<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Here’s the Scripture that Satan has left out of his little diabolical monologue:<\/p>\n

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Without faith it is impossible to please him, for anyone who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It is not the absence of perfection but of\u00a0faith<\/em> that saddens God. To be healed of scrupulosity, you have to learn to\u00a0trust\u00a0<\/em>in the Father’s love for you personally. It’s this childlike trust\u2014despite your sins\u2014that causes the Father to run to you, kiss, and embrace you\u00a0every-single-time. <\/em>For you who are scrupulous, ponder\u00a0again and again the parable of the Prodigal Son.[1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. Luke 15:11-32<\/span><\/span>