Regina Rogers column: Jesus loves me; this I know

Singing is a joy. While I don't sing as well as some, I can sing. I've been doing so since I was a child and to this day, remember many of the songs I learned in church. One of the most familiar is one that children have continued to learn for generations. The words are: "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong, they are weak but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so."

Simple words make the song an easy one to learn, yet the message it contains is quite profound. Sadly, we often overlook the message in the song.

We recently celebrated Christmas. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Savior, who was born to bring salvation to a lost world through his death and resurrection. What a profound message of love. When I think about the many sinful decisions that I have made in life, when I consider the many times that I have fallen by the wayside, only to have my Savior pick me up, forgive me, dust the dirt off of me and then embrace me, I cannot doubt that he loves me. Yet I have doubted his love for me.

There has been a lot of hurt in my life. Some of that hurt is the result of self-inflicted wounds and some of it comes at the hand of others. The result of it all has been pain and scars that have followed me for years. The wounds still break open from time to time and have to be dealt with all over again. Thus, the pain continues.

I'm just one person. I can't begin to comprehend the number of those who have, and still are, dealing with the pain from "things" that have happened to them, whether or not it has been the result of their own choosing.

Evil has existed from the beginning of time and has taken on many shapes and forms. Yet, the final result is that evil inflicts pain, it damages, and for some, that damage lasts a lifetime. While the damage itself also takes on many shapes and forms, one of the most damaging results is that we feel unloved and unwanted. Those feelings affect us in every environment and in every relationship, even in our relationship with our heavenly Father. In fact, when we feel that those who are dearest to us don't love us, we can't even begin to feel the Father's love.

Every person on this earth needs to be loved and needs to belong. When we don't feel loved, we become consumed with doubt. Any faith or hope that we may have had is gone out the window. We become angry and bitter and we just don't care anymore. When we get to that place, we don't care about our actions or the consequences of such. In fact, when we don't care, we typically don't consider the consequences. It's a sad place to be in, as not only do we hurt ourselves, but we hurt others as well. As strange as it may sound, when we feel unloved, we often search for it in the wrong places and in the wrong ways. While it feels good to us at the time, it brings more pain into our lives.

We forget what the Father's love is all about. He came to save those who are lost. Yes, salvation is necessary in order for us to enter into the kingdom of God. We cannot choose to live in sin and think that we are okay with God. At the same time, if and when we give in to sin, we have our advocate, our Father, who is faithful and just to forgive our sin (1 John 1:9). This forgiveness requires repentance, which means we don't continue committing the sin.

We also need to understand that the degree of our Father's love in not measured by the severity of our sin. God does rate sin based on how bad it is; all sin is bad, and equal, in his eyes. Thus, he does not love us a little or a lot as a result of the degree or amount of our sin. Yet the measure of one's own sin can make it even more difficult for him to feel loved.

Christ came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). That life is intended for all mankind, not just a few. No amount of pain is too big or too small for the healing that our Father pours out.

If we believe the Bible, then we know that Jesus loves us. His love can heal a multitude of sins and make us white as snow (1 Peter 4:8). Nothing we have ever done or ever can do, will exceed what our Savior has done, and can do, for us.

Embracing the name my Father calls me as his daughter has been delayed because of the pain in my life. Don't let the pain in your life keep you from embracing the name he calls you. You see, Jesus loves you, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones, and big ones, to him belong. They are weak, but he is strong. Yes Jesus loves you. Yes, Jesus loves you. Yes, Jesus loves you, the Bible tells me so. Regina Rogers lives in Rowan County.