“I am God’s son, and He is pleased with me.” This is my new “mantra,” if you will. The first part of this I get. I am God’s son. Yep. The Bible says that anyone who is in Christ is now a child of God (John 1:12). This one is not hard for me to grasp. It’s the second part of that statement that is hard for me to take in. How is it that God could be pleased with me?

Ever heard the saying “I’m proud of you?” Most of us have heard it from someone at some time. Most often it is said when we accomplish something or do something noteworthy. What if that was said just because of who we are, because of the unmerited favor of the only One who truly matters.

I struggle with this. I know that one of the “pillars” of faith is our understanding that – because of nothing to do with us – in His great love for us God sent Jesus on our behalf. Welcome to grace: the unmerited favor of God. We don’t deserve His love, His forgiveness, His mercy, His grace, yet we receive it in abundance through Jesus. Yet I struggle to understand how in fact God could love me, without me having to do something to obtain that love.

God’s Word makes it clear: no one can “obtain” God’s love. It’s impossible for us to do that. Romans tells us, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, ESV). While we were still sinners. While we were still lost in our sin. Not freed already and able to stand before God righteous by ourselves. Jesus came a died and rose again to free us. Christ loved us so much that He paid the debt for us. So, even when we mess up, He still gives us His favor. Even when we don’t get it right, or we have a setback, God still loves us like a parent loves their child.

I am still processing this one. I know it, I confess it as true, but I have a hard time understanding it how it is so. My head and heart struggle to allow it to be true. And yet, as Billy Graham once wrote:

Yes, the grace of God is a reality. Thousands have tried, tested, and proved that it is more than a cold creed, a docile doctrine, or a tedious theory. The grace of God has been tested in the crucible of human experience and has been found to be more than an equal for the problems and sins of humanity.

He is pleased with me, and with you. We hold the unmerited, undeserved favor of God because of Jesus Christ! Now, instead of trying to work to please God, we simply obey God – even in our feeble attempts – out of love for Him. He loves us, and smiles upon us. We are His children. Because of Christ, God is pleased with anyone who repents, and accepts the free gift of grace in Jesus.