During his training, Anakin went through the typical season of rebellion against the authority of Obi-Wan and the Jedi Council. He told Padmé in AOTC, “It’s all Obi-wan’s fault. He’s jealous. He’s holding me back! [from becoming the most powerful Jedi].”
What Anakin failed to see what that Obi-Wan and the Council said no to specific training or activities not because they were trying to hold him back but because they believed those training or activities were not good for him at that time.
Sometimes we ask if God loves us since we believe He is somehow holding something back from us. The Israelites were just like us.
In Malachi 1:2a, we read, “‘I have loved you,’ says the Lord. But you [Israel] say, “How have You loved us?'”
Israel only needed to look at their history to know that God loved them. In the following few verses of Malachi 1, God explains how.
For believers today, we might question if God loves us. We might know it in our heads since we have read verse after verse that God indeed loves us, but we do not “feel” loved.
Reread these verses showing us how much God loves us: Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 86:15, Zephaniah 3:17, John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 1:9, 1 John 3:1, and 1 John 4:8b.
There is an essential difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge.
Take time to read, memorize, and take comfort in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
To help this move from our heads to our hearts, read this version of Romans 8:1 daily for a week. “There is no condemnation for ME, since I am in Christ Jesus” (emphasis added).
