In the midst of fear, uncertainty, and panic the coronavirus has brought on our nation and the world, we need to know there is someone who loves us and is helping us each day. There is not a greater expression of God loving us than the event of Easter represents. God gave his Son so that he might come and live in our lives and be present with us daily. God loves us more than we love ourselves. The Bible teaches us that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. That simply means that when the Lord, in the person of the Holy Spirit, comes to dwell in our heart because of our faith in His Son Jesus Christ, He brings love with Him, because God is love. (Romans 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.) It’s important to ask what we are doing with the love of God that has been freely given to us. Are we rejecting it because we don’t think we are valuable enough to be loved? Do we believe God is like other people who have rejected and hurt us? Or are we receiving His love by faith, believing that He is greater than our failures and weaknesses? With God’s help, we can love ourselves, not in a selfish, self- centered way that produces a lifestyle of self-indulgence, but in a balanced, Godly way, a way that simply affirms God’s creation as essentially good and right. God’s plan is this: for us to receive His love, love ourselves in a godly way, generously love Him in return, and then love all the people who come into our lives. Pastor Don [image: image.png]