In Mat. 3:16-17 (and other Gospel accounts) we read how just after Jesus was baptized, the Lord’s voice came “thundering” from heaven, saying “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased!”

“Sure”, we think, “I have no trouble believing that. Jesus was and is perfect, and a member of the Trinity!” It gets a lot harder, though, to believe the Lord loves us the same way, let alone that He’s “well pleased” with us!

How can that be? We’re not perfect. We mess up, let Him down, even misrepresent Him at times. If we know that and feel disappointed with ourselves, how can we dare to think He, the perfect One, could be well-pleased with us?!

Ok, guess He could be sometimes—when we do and say things that please Him, have good attitudes and thoughts, or at least don’t sin. But those times when we fall short of that? “No way!”, we say (and think).

The “beloved” part we can figure out. After all, “God is love” (1 Jn. 4:8). And since He’s perfect, His love is perfect—no limits (Ps. 36:5) and unconditional. He has to love us, because of who He is.

But the concept of Him continuously taking pleasure in us eludes us. How could this happen? Again, if we focus on His character, we can see how.

In order for Him to be perfect, He has to remain consistently and constantly so. As one friend puts it, “God can’t love and take pleasure in bits and pieces.” In other words, He loves and takes pleasure in us fully, always!

Part of that, not opposed to or detracting from that, He still wants more for us—more wholeness, kindness, fruit of the Spirit, righteousness, etc.—while still fully loving and being pleased with us!

That’s why “He who began a good work in [us] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6, brackets mine)

We also need to recognize the real goal, or finish line—to become like Jesus in character. Since it’s a finish line, it comes at the end of the race, not the beginning. The Lord knows this, and doesn’t expect perfection while we’re running our race. If we don’t recognize and know this, we’ll be discouraged by our lack of perfect character now, lose motivation, and perhaps give up.

He doesn’t give up on us. He also doesn’t compare us to others running their races. Each of our races are our own, different from everyone else’s. So we shouldn’t compare our progress and place to others either, since their “track” differs from ours.

At the same time, to facilitate each of us reaching that common goal, the Lord “works all things for good for those who love Him, who ⁱhave been called according to His purpose… to be conformed to the image of his Son…” Rom. 8:28-29

All along the way, He’s truly pleased with us.

Last week we had an experience that the Lord brought to mind to illustrate this kind of unconditional love and pleasure in us:

We went to some friends’ house who’d recently gotten a guinea pig. “Gerb (his name) is paranoid—he won’t let anyone hold him!” I wanted to try anyway, and one guy somehow caught Gerb in his cage and handed him to me.

Amazingly, Gerb didn’t try to jump out of my hands. He did tremble for a couple of minutes with fear, but then I felt him settle. There he sat, comfortably, at peace, while I petted and talked to him.

I was taking pleasure in this little guy, and he knew it! He didn’t earn it. His reputation lacked credibility—the guys told us he’d clawed them (apparently from fear). None of that mattered to me. I gave him a chance, he sensed I was safe, and settled in.

Exactly what we need to do with our heavenly Father—quit doubting His love and pleasure in us; quit fearing when He may get tired of us and “drop” us; quit thinking we have to be perfect to please Him! Just settle in, knowing that we, like Jesus, are His “beloved [children], in whom He is well pleased”.