He Loves You the Way You Are

A lot of times we are conditioned to think that God is waiting for us to change and solve all of our problems so that He can finally love and accept us. This is not the way that God thinks, and His Son came to change the way we think about His Father.

In Luke chapter 8 we read about the woman that had suffered for twelve years but when she heard that Jesus was in town, she thought that if she could touch Him, she would be healed. The problem with that is that according to Leviticus chapter 15 she was unclean, and anything that any unclean person would touch would also become unclean.

“A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.”” (Mark 5:25–28)

Immediately after she touched Jesus her bleeding stopped and she tried to go away unnoticed, but Jesus knew that somebody had touched Him, because He felt power had gone out of Him. Instead of Jesus becoming unclean she was healed.

“When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”” (Luke 8:47–48) She was not only healed, Jesus called her daughter, and she was now restored to the community and allowed to be around others.

Jesus came to show that He loves us the way we are and that we can come close and touch Him. Instead of being conditioned to years of struggles, of being rejected because our impurity or other problems, God is looking for people that need Him and are not afraid to approach Him just the way that they are.

“But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. “But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”” (Matthew 9:12–13)

Leviticus 15:25-28
Luke 8:43-48
Matthew 9:9-13
Hebrews 10:19-25