Children of God 
This devotional was written by Kelly McFadden

“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:26-29

In a moment, I understood unconditional love like I never had before.  On January 28, my husband and I welcomed our first child into this world.  From the first moment, we loved him.  We were overwhelmed that God had entrusted us with this precious little man.  We prayed and vowed that we would do everything we could to protect and care for him as the Lord directs.

Of course, like all infants, our son has a basic routine.  He spends some of the day sleeping, some of the day eating, some of the day laying on his back and staring at something (or nothing), some of the day he cries, and many times a day needs a diaper change.  There is not too much exciting to his day.  In fact, within a given day, my husband and I are not thanked and our son never does anything for us.  His world is consumed with himself, simply trying to figure out if that hand waving in front of his face is his own.  But we love him with all of our hearts and our lives have changed as we happily work to fulfill his needs. 

God has given me a new understanding of what it means to be a child of God.  It is not about what I do for God, because really, in the scheme of things, what can I possibly do for Him?  It is not about how much I thank God or talk to God.  It is not about how I behave and if I have a good day or a fussy day.  No matter what, God loves me.  I am His child, and so are you.

God made you with purpose.  He knows your name. He knows each hair on your head.  If you have already called out to Him and asked Him to be in your life, He is thrilled and rejoices. If you have not called out to Him, He earnestly waits.  Either way, He loves you.  Even when you simply go about your day – eating, sleeping, and staring – He loves you.  Nothing can separate you from God’s love.

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GOING DEEPER:

1. Do you believe that God loves you unconditionally?

2. Why is it hard sometimes to accept God’s incredible favor and accept that you are indeed a child of God?

FURTHER READING:
Matthew 23:37; 2 Peter 3:9; Romans 8:17

Kelly McFadden currently works at Mariners Church Southern California. She and her husband Michael are the new parents of Campbell McFadden


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