You’re always welcome!

by angiehauer · May 16. 2025

Imagine seeing God standing a few feet in front of you. He’s looking at you. What do you think his posture is like? What’s his expression? What does he say to you?

Is he judgmental, distant, or dismissive? Or is he welcoming, warm, and full of joy? Does he have his arms open with love in his eyes?

God created each and every one of us with love, and we are important to him. He wants to have a relationship with us; that is why he created us. He is a God of love and wants to give us this love—and he also wants to receive it from us. But he will never force us or pressure us into it. Love must be freely given, otherwise it is not love.

And yet he is God! A good, loving God who deserves respect, wonder, praise, and reverence.

In the Bible, in the Gospel of John, there is a situation in which one of Jesus’ disciples asks him if he will show them God the Father.

This disciple knows Jesus, is with him every day, and experiences how Jesus helps people, accepts them, and heals them; he sees how Jesus lives and applies love in practice! But the connection between Jesus and God the Father is not clear to him.

Jesus answered, “For a long time I have been with you all; yet you do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Why, then, do you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:9

Jesus did not always fit the image that people had of the Son of God and Savior of the world. He behaved differently than they would have expected. The Son of God did not come to earth with fanfare, noise, and a large entourage. And yet he clearly showed people what his Father, the Creator of the world and almighty God, is like by living and ministering among them. He was approachable, loving, and yet full of power. God is as Jesus shows him to be: He is love, and he is good!

You were created by God in love—with all your strengths and weaknesses! And that is good! He wants to have a loving relationship with you. He is overjoyed when you come to him, whether in good times or in difficult times! You are always welcome! He is good!