Is it a spiritual gift to feel that God loves you?


John Prather
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I suppose it depends on what you mean by "a spiritual gift".

 

Without doubt, it comes from revelation through the Holy Spirit, and by pure definition of "gift", yes, it is.

 

Is it an official "Gift of the Spirit", as in the gift of tongues?

 

*shrug*

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I think it's a good gift. I've never felt it though, consciously, and I'm far from sure I deserve it. What I have felt, though, is the way God loves everyone else, and so intensely, I could only stand it for moments, and asked for that to go. This ecstasy of love, equal parts joy and pain, left me, but left me transformed. If you feel God loves you, be sure He does, and more than you can know.

 

Best wishes, 2RM.

Edited by 2ndRateMind
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Last night I tossed and turned wrestling with this question. I myself do not feel or know that God loves me. What compounds this situation is that I was brought up in a home where our mother was not bonded to us.  I like to think that I was emotionally stillborn. So here I am, having gone through 55 years of not feeling loved and all the things one might imagine goes with this experience. I have no concept of a loving Father in Heaven. It is hard to watch mothers in church console, nurture, and love their children. I don't begrudge them but it hurts. Sometimes more than others. So sometimes I wonder what my obligations are to God. I feel He doesn't  love me so why should I love Him?  He didn't put me in a home to experience love so it appears that wasn't His intention for me.  After a failed suicide attempt and laying there in the emergency room listening to the nurse and police officer making fun of me, I thought this would be a good time for God to show some love or a dead relative or two to at least say buck up little camper but no, didn't happen.  It almost feels like Calvin had it right that God does have His favorites.

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Dear John, God loves you more than you could possibly comprehend!  He loves all of us so much, He sent His Son to us to atone for our sins by offering Himself up and dying a cruel death.  God sends all of us little signs of His love constanly, most of the time we simply don't notice them.  Allow yourself to open up to Him like a child, earnestly and humbly seek to know Him more, and pray constantly throughout your day.  In faith, learn to love Him and His creation and you will begin to see how He's been by your side your whole life, offering you His love.   

 

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless, and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us, and increase your mercy in us, that in difficult moments, we might not despair, nor become despondent, but with great confidence, submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy Itself.  Amen - St. Faustina

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..John yes Heavenly Father loves you so very very much I know and I understand how you feel some people have a hard time feeling that they are loved or being loved its called dysfunctional it isn't hadn't of dysfunctional thinking I know I found out that I have this too and I have wondered in past years of Heavenly Father love me too but I want you to know that Heavenly Father loves you he loves me he loves every single one of us so very very much he is so wise so knowing of everything he has given us everything all good gifts all blessings are from him we get confused we get confused between the worldly stuff and the spiritual stuff the most important thing that we can have is the spiritual gifts yeah sometimes they don't help us get through life because we need some relief gets as well but I know if we searched and we pray and we read and we ponderweak to could know that Heavenly Father absolutely loves us theres no hole in the gospel the only the only holes are the holes within each one of us try hard to strive to develop a relationship with your heavenly Father God bless you love your sister

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..

.I do not know how to fix the mistakes in my post if I if something comes out wrong because I'm talking it on the computer with the speaker or if I am typing it so what I was trying to say is that we have eight different thinking patterns and one of the thinking patterns that I have is cold I just functional thinking pattern and this is a paladin that unfortunately goes with people who have low self esteem people who don't feel left out for whatever reason yes sometimes we have experienced things that are not good that are not happy some family accept you accept your but family fun that knows everything he knows what each of us has been through and I just want to reinforce again that I know that he loves you I know that he loves everyone please excuse these words that pop up that I don't study but I post a little hard to read or understand don't know how to fix it since I'm not computer technical savvy alright bye

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  • 2 weeks later...

Is it a gift?  Like a spiritual gift?  Like a talent that some have and some don't?

 

I don't know.  Maybe some lucky ones get to come to earth with a little more knowing about the love of God than the rest.  But I don't think feeling the love of God is some exclusive thing that is only given to the "special ones."  I think God gives His love in abundance to all of His children.  I think it comes it tons of diverse ways and in ways that are obvious and ways that are harder to see.  The trick isn't achieving super specialness so that you can feel it.  The trick is using gratitude and other higher ways so the scales drop from our eyes and so God's love becomes clear.  At least that's what I think.

Edited by Misshalfway
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  • 1 month later...

Sorry for my tardiness...

 

I will be 55 this summer next. I went my whole life just believing Father loved me, I mean, I read the scriptures, sang the songs but it was not more than that.

 

Two and a half years ago I experienced His love. Not a "hey I love you". It was His love that filled me. It FILLED me. It is impossible to describe and it changed my life. The thing is,... I don't believe anyone can just feel it,... rather it must be experienced,... or KNOWN... not without also "knowing" His love fore everyone,... just EVERYONE. I thought about it for a long time and I think of the first Matrix movie when Neo stepped out into the hall and saw everything in ones and zeros. I saw Gods love in the fabric of the all creation,... in me,... in everyone and everything. Especially in the scriptures. It is an experiential knowledge and deeply personal. Profound.

 

Is it a gift? Oh yes. But so much more. It has been the single most precious treasure of my life, what must have been less than a second... It must be experienced,... no words can convey it. Lehi and Nephi spoke of tasting the 'fruit' which is the "love of God" and I know what Lehi was trying to say. Mortality is such an inadequate  vessel for the greatest gift "charity".

 

John Prather... I know the Father and the sons love for you. That sounds so preposterous, but it is so real. More real than this dream we call life. I don't know why He gave it to me, I just don't know. Some are blessed with this, and others with that. Your experiences have been planned just for you though. Sometimes,... well, a lot of times we humans are very messy so there's that, but I don't believe He will keep the knowledge of His love from us, so why not start talking to Him about it,... and be patient,... listen and did I mention be patient?

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  • 2 months later...

Last night I tossed and turned wrestling with this question. I myself do not feel or know that God loves me. What compounds this situation is that I was brought up in a home where our mother was not bonded to us.  I like to think that I was emotionally stillborn. So here I am, having gone through 55 years of not feeling loved and all the things one might imagine goes with this experience. I have no concept of a loving Father in Heaven. It is hard to watch mothers in church console, nurture, and love their children. I don't begrudge them but it hurts. Sometimes more than others. So sometimes I wonder what my obligations are to God. I feel He doesn't  love me so why should I love Him?  He didn't put me in a home to experience love so it appears that wasn't His intention for me.  After a failed suicide attempt and laying there in the emergency room listening to the nurse and police officer making fun of me, I thought this would be a good time for God to show some love or a dead relative or two to at least say buck up little camper but no, didn't happen.  It almost feels like Calvin had it right that God does have His favorites.

 

 

John, this post of yours has been preying on my mind for months.  I haven't felt I could give an adequate reply.  I still feel I cannot do this justice.  I just wish there was something that I could say that would let you know how much your Father in Heaven does love you.  This I know with all my heart.  I do not know why some of His children are born into this world into such situations as yours, or into such depravity, wickedness, or poverty that they seemingly have no chance to thrive and grow into decent human beings.  Some how, I know our Father will make up for this.

 

I wish you could feel the love our Father in Heaven and our elder brother Jesus Christ have for us.  Christ has suffered for all our sins and has felt all our sorrows, grief, and pain.  They know you.  They know your circumstances.  They know the little boy you once were.  They know what you went through as a child, and your need for love and acceptance.  They know the man you have become  They love you.  Some day, those that have hurt you will meet their Maker, and will confess their sins.  I know that the scriptures tell us that anyone who has harmed a little one, that it would have been better for a mill stone to have been hung around their neck and drowned in the depths of the sea.

 

Again, all I can wish for you, is for you to one day feel the love that Father and our Savior have for you.  I have felt that love in my own life when I have been in the depths of sorrow.  The Gospel is true.  Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.  Father in Heaven is a loving Father who loves you.  Again, he knows you individually.  And, you are precious in His sight.

Edited by classylady
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If being a human being is a gift then the answer is yes because humans feel things. I wonder how much work we did in order to get a body. If we worked hard to avoid going along with satan and staying in spirit form, then the body is payment for our work and therefore the things we feel (ie love) are part of the payment. BUT, if we didn't do much more than simply choose a path, that amounts to almost no work. If that is the case, then our body is a gift and to feel is a gift and therefore to feel gods love is also a gift.

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One of the favorite mantras of a former bishop of mine was that that was one question you could take to God and always get an answer to. I know for me, and several others who have testified of that, that it is really true. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve done it before—when I ask “Father, do you love me?” I always get the same wonderful feeling in my heart. It saddens me to think that there are people who wouldn’t feel that answer. And I don’t know why that would be the case.

 

I obviously don’t know you, John, except from what you have posted here. I don’t know your circumstances or your troubles. But I hope, in addition to seeking the Lord, that you are seeking some professional help of whatever kind you may need.

 

For me—I think I get the love, but what I don’t quite understand, and probably never will in this life, is that He would care about what is going on in my life or want to help me with any of my little problems. I am only one of billions upon billions of God’s children, and not a very remarkable one at that. That’s the understanding I struggle with—that with so many other people to assist and care for that he would be mindful of me.

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