What a great question! Since the Bible assures us that we are deeply loved, how can we weave this truth into our daily experiences with their crises, disappointments, and challenges?

There is a principle in Scripture and in life…our decisions and actions are a process, that we function, first from our minds, through our thoughts, understanding, and belief, and eventually into experience.

So, Paul says, the transformation we experience as new creatures in Christ begins with exchanges that go on in our minds. We learn the truth and receive it in exchange for the wrong ideas we had. This is the essence of repentence.

The information we need that will move us from thinking, believing, and doing what affects us detrimentally, is truth. Truth is found in what God has revealed about Himself, us, and the world we live in.

John 17:17 NLT
[17] “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.”

2 Timothy 3:16 NLT
[16] “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”

Step number one, then, in the process of learning to live loved, is to replace whatever our opinion is about ourselves and God’s attitude towards us, with truth.

Romans 12:2 NLT
[2]”Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”

The world has taught us to be suspicious of God, and the troubles and adversities we face or we see happening to others seem to confirm our suspicions that God is not be trusted.

Who is telling the truth? Is the world correct in its evaluation of God’s character? When we look at the evidence of what God has done for us through Jesus, we can only conclude that it’s the world that is lying, not God.

So, if it is true that God loves us absolutely, unconditionally, with a constant love, that same love as the love He has for Jesus (and Jesus assured us that this is true – John 17:25-26), then we can act on this truth.

Step two…how do we weave God’s love for us into our responses to our circumstances? Once we have accepted and believed the truth that God loves us, we must learn to change our awareness. We must discipline our minds to factor God’s love for us into every circumstance and situation, especially when we experience difficulties, hardships, disappointments, or loss of any kind.

Romans 8:31-39 is the passage to dwell on. As each situation arises, with a growing awareness of God’s love, we dwell on the truth that nothing can come in between us and God’s love for us.

This response, practised repeatedly through difficult experiences, slowly develops into a settled attitude of mind. We breathe the air of God’s love with every breath we take. We are not fazed by adversity because we believe that God’s love permits only what is beneficial for us, and works for our good in everything. God is sovereign. He supervises everything to work for our good.

Step three…we develop a new thought-habit. We attribute every situation, good or bad, to God’s love until we anchored in that truth. We are slowly learning to interpret and live in the confidence of God’s love in every situation. We are eventually resting and living loved.