How do I know God loves me?

[BVMFatima]

Hello, I suffer depression and I get the feelings that God does not love me. I get these feelings because I am a sinner. Even when I turn to God in tears and pain in my heart how I want to overcome sin, I get tempted to sin anyways due to depression and low self esteem and also shyness. I really want to please my Lord because I love him so much, but I feel he does not love me back. I pray 24-7 asking him to help me, but I feel he ignores me. I am not fully received in the Church so I cannot go to confession yet, but I confess to Jesus my sins and ask for his help, but the question is how do I know God loves me?

God Bless,
BVMFatima

 

[PaladinSword]

Try not to be overly scrupulous. I suffer from some of the same thoughts at times.

How do we know God loves us?

Think of the sacrifice of Christ and how much God loves us for us. I believe he loves each of us in a special way. Think of the scriptures that confirm this. “before you were formed in the womb, I knew you.” and how our names are carved in the palms of his hands.

God will go to nearly any length to save us from damnation by bringing us back to him. The Holy Spirit draws us to repentance and seals us for the last day and gets us back to God. The very fact that God has given us his spirit for these and other things is a sure sign of his infinite love for us.

All fall short of the glory of God but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to be holy and united with him.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Regina_Love]

Hello, I suffer depression and I get the feelings that God does not love me. I get these feelings because I am a sinner. Even when I turn to God in tears and pain in my heart how I want to overcome sin, I get tempted to sin anyways due to depression and low self esteem and also shyness. I really want to please my Lord because I love him so much, but I feel he does not love me back. I pray 24-7 asking him to help me, but I feel he ignores me. I am not fully received in the Church so I cannot go to confession yet, but I confess to Jesus my sins and ask for his help, but the question is how do I know God loves me?

God Bless,
BVMFatima

Jesus came down to die for your sins, so that he could forgive you, so that YOU can live forever with Him in Heaven! God wants you to be hang with him! God doesn’t just love you. He’s crazy about you! Every time you choose Him He celebrates! In John 18;20-26 Jesus states that God loves You as much as He loves Jesus! In 24 Jesus says "Father they are Your gift to me! Soooo YOU are a gift from God the Father to God the Son. Nice!

 

[Ruthie_again]

Look around you; look out the window. Look for something lovely: snow on a branch, a star, a flower, a cloud.

Those things are love notes, from God to you. When you see one, and your mind says, “That’s beautiful (or awesome, or pretty, or cute, and so on)” that is God saying, “BVMFatima, I love you!”

Sure, anyone who sees the beauty can get the same message - but it is still personal, for you. These messages are all around us; we tend not to see them because we are thinking about our lives and problems, and forget to look for His creations.

Two other things that help me when I get depressed are the psalm I quote in my sig. It’s kind of counter-intuitive, but it still helps.

The other is this meditation of Blessed John Henry Newman:

God knows me and calls me by my name. God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission—I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.
Somehow I am necessary for His purposes. I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.

Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; In perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life, He may shorten it; He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers, He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me— still He knows what He is about. … Let me be Thy blind instrument. I ask not to see— I ask not to know—I ask simply to be used.

Gentle hugs from one depressive to another,

 

[Waiting]

Hello, I suffer depression and I get the feelings that God does not love me. I get these feelings because I am a sinner. Even when I turn to God in tears and pain in my heart how I want to overcome sin, I get tempted to sin anyways due to depression and low self esteem and also shyness. I really want to please my Lord because I love him so much, but I feel he does not love me back. I pray 24-7 asking him to help me, but I feel he ignores me. I am not fully received in the Church so I cannot go to confession yet, but I confess to Jesus my sins and ask for his help, but the question is how do I know God loves me?

God Bless,
BVMFatima

A short session talking to Jesus on the cross should convince you how much He loves you. Also, if you want to hear Him talking directly to you, then go to directionforourtimes.com. For seven years, Jesus left monthly messages for all of us. You can read these on line, or you can order the messages that have been collected in book form. You will know, without a doubt, how much Jesus loves you.

 

[Aeden]

As Paladin said, think of Jesus sacrifice on the cross. The priest at my parish said something interesting on the subject once: “We all know that Jesus died for all of our sins and we’re all sort of comfortable with that idea, but that isn’t quite right: He didn’t just die for all of us, he died for each and every one of us” not just humanity as a whole, but every human that ever was or ever will be. Also, another thing a priest once said to me on a similar subject: “God made you and when He did, He knew every sin you would ever commit, every on you have have committed and every one you ever will and even still, He loved you so much that He created you, knowing the sins you would commit.”

What better way is there than clear logic like that?

 

[De_Montfort]

Hello, I suffer depression and I get the feelings that God does not love me. I get these feelings because I am a sinner. Even when I turn to God in tears and pain in my heart how I want to overcome sin, I get tempted to sin anyways due to depression and low self esteem and also shyness. I really want to please my Lord because I love him so much, but I feel he does not love me back. I pray 24-7 asking him to help me, but I feel he ignores me. I am not fully received in the Church so I cannot go to confession yet, but I confess to Jesus my sins and ask for his help, but the question is how do I know God loves me?

God Bless,
BVMFatima

God permits us at times to fall into sin to teach us humility. He loves you and knows you better than you know yourself. Keep at it! Pray the rosary daily if you can, ask for Mary help to teach you to love Her Son as much as she does. I have a couple of quotes that really helped me. Because for me too I felt like I wanted to give up, that God wasn’t hearing me, the key is not to give up once you can and are able too go to confession weekly if possible.

“Frequently, even very frequently, God allows his greatest servants, those far advanced in holiness, to fall into the most humiliating faults so as to humble them in their own eyes and in the eyes of others”
(Friends of the Cross, St. Louis de Montfort)

It happens to the best of us and God permits things to keep us humble and to keep us completely dependent on Him.

When I get depressed I think of this quote to keep me going…,
“The Cross let him carry it, for nothing is so necessary, so beneficial, so agreeable, or so glorious as to suffer something for Jesus Christ”
(St. Louis de Montfort)

Always have Jesus Christ as your goal our final end and Mary to guide you, and you will conquer your enemies!

God Bless You in His Sacred Heart!

 

[BVMFatima]

Thank you all for your time, charity, and help. Every single post from every single one of you has helped me.

God Bless you all!
BVMFatima

 

[Kontrak]

Thank you all for your time, charity, and help. Every single post from every single one of you has helped me.

God Bless you all!
BVMFatima

God bless you! Hang in there and be persistent. God shows His love in those around you as well. Also remember to trust in Him and His mercy. That means that as much as You love Him you have to let Him love you back to understand His love. That is, remember He is always holding you up and is patient with you in all your inadequacies. In fact, He loves you because of them. Hope that’s helpful.

 

[BVMFatima]

:

God bless you! Hang in there and be persistent. God shows His love in those around you as well. Also remember to trust in Him and His mercy. That means that as much as You love Him you have to let Him love you back to understand His love. That is, remember He is always holding you up and is patient with you in all your inadequacies. In fact, He loves you because of them. Hope that’s helpful.

I will take this advice

God Bless!
Bvmfatima

 

[louisak]

If you can find a copy (I think it is now out of print) get a copy of He and I by Gabrielle Bossis. It communicates so much about the love of God for each of us - a love which is not generic or automatic, as I think someone else said - not a love for humanity in the abstract, but a real burning love for each person as an individual. If you say that God loves each person infinitely, it is hard to draw much comfort or inspiration from that thought, it seems like a mathematical abstraction. The messages in He and I help to make that love real and vivid to the reader. I have derived so much joy and comfort from it, I hope you will also.

 

[pwlj_christ87]

hey first and foremost god does love you at every stage in life, non stop, and more than you think. do not think that prayers go unanswered, and it seems you have already built your house on a rock. do not fear! honestly, depression is not fun, i have been there and so have many but know that it is the enemy that wants to destroy you… this may sound generic butgod does have a plan for you,

i suggest reading the bible everyday , just a chapter or two at a time, everyday… and pray to god and the saints… come on here and post and chat about anything and everything, you can learn so much on here, you are on hte right path because you posted here and know that god wont let you go…

blessed are the poor in spirit! that is you

 

[BVMFatima]

hey first and foremost god does love you at every stage in life, non stop, and more than you think. do not think that prayers go unanswered, and it seems you have already built your house on a rock. do not fear! honestly, depression is not fun, i have been there and so have many but know that it is the enemy that wants to destroy you… this may sound generic butgod does have a plan for you,

i suggest reading the bible everyday , just a chapter or two at a time, everyday… and pray to god and the saints… come on here and post and chat about anything and everything, you can learn so much on here, you are on hte right path because you posted here and know that god wont let you go…

blessed are the poor in spirit! that is you

I found the last two posts inspiring Thank You

God Bless,
Bvmfatima