Saturday Read: God's Emotions and Our Worth

We often think of God as emotionally distant - all-knowing, all-powerful, but somehow above feelings. Yet Scripture repeatedly describes God's emotional life: he grieves (Genesis 6:6), feels compassion (Psalm 103:13), gets angry (Exodus 32:10), shows jealousy (Exodus 34:14), and experiences joy (Zephaniah 3:17). The God who made us with emotions has emotions himself - and many of them are about us.

This should radically transform how we see ourselves. You're not just a project God tolerates or a problem he's solving. You're someone he delights in, sings over, rejoices about. When you feel worthless, God feels differently. When you see only failure, he sees his beloved child. When you focus on everything wrong with you, he's celebrating everything right about his work in you.

The father in the prodigal son story captures this divine emotion perfectly. While the son was "still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). He didn't wait with crossed arms for an apology. He ran with open arms toward reconciliation. His emotions drove his actions - compassion produced running, love produced embrace.

Isaiah prophesied that God would rejoice over his people "as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride" (Isaiah 62:5). This isn't cold duty or obligatory care - it's passionate delight, enthusiastic love, joyful celebration. God doesn't just tolerate your presence; he delights in it. He's not counting down until you get your act together; he's singing over you right now, mess and all.

We struggle to accept this because we project our conditional love onto God. We love people when they perform well, meet expectations, make us proud. We assume God operates the same way - loving us when we're good, disappointed when we fail, distant when we struggle. But his love isn't performance-based; it's covenant-based. It doesn't fluctuate with your behavior; it flows from his character.

The cross proves this definitively. "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Not after we cleaned up, not once we proved ourselves, but while we were actively rebelling. If he loved you enough to die for you at your worst, why would you doubt his delight in you at your best attempts to follow him?

Today, let this truth sink in: God is singing over you. Not someday when you've finally matured spiritually, but right now. His joy over you isn't based on your perfection but on his decision to love you. You can stop performing for applause you already have and start resting in affection that never wavers. You are his beloved, and that makes him sing.