God’s Love > Our Sin

Written by Maya Anderson

Today I was studying Hosea chapter 14, and I would highly encourage you to do so as well. Hosea was a prophet, who wrote all about Israel’s sin, and how God, in His love, forgives us of our sin if we repent.

First it says in verse one:

“O Israel, return to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity”

Now, this verse isn’t only referring to Israel. The Bible says we all have sinned (Romans 3:23), so we all need God’s love! Then, it say in verses 2-3:

“Take words with you, and return to the LORD. Say to Him, ‘Take away all iniquity; receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride on horses, nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, “You are our gods.” For in You the fatherless finds mercy.’”

The second part of that verse may sound odd without context. But if you look at the location and date (Israel in 750 BC), you’ll see that the Israelites found themselves worshipping idols. A lot. Pretty much the entire Old Testament, you see the cycle of Israel sinning and worshipping idols, God punishing them, them repenting, and then them immediately forgetting  about Him and turning back to their idols. Idols like statues that they worship, but also the help of the pagan nation Assyria and their military (spoiler alert: Assyria never helped. Only when they accepted God’s help did they really have peace).

To you this may seem… unrelatable. Irrelevant. But this generation also worships idols a lot too — though they are in different forms. Things like money, social media, ourselves, devices, popularity, expectations, success, fame, this world, comfort, relationships, time. The list goes on and on. The problem with this is sin and idols separate us from God (Jonah 2:8). But, fortunately, when we reject these idols, but turn to God instead, He will happily accept us. Which brings me into the next verse, Hosea 14:4:

“I (God) will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him.”

The moral of the story is: we all sin and fall short of God’s glory. But when we repent, turn away from meaningless idols, and turn to Him, He will gladly accept us and forgive us. So, what’s the center of your life? Is it God? Or is it social media, money, the future, your relationships?

Homework

Jesus said that if your right hand is causing you to sin, then cut it off (Matthew 5:30). So today, I want you to take a step to cut one of those idols out of your life. So whether that’s deleting an app from your phone, praying to God and laying all the dreams for your future down in His hands, or asking Him to remove someone from your life if they’re not for you, I pray that you are able to do so effectively and feel the peace and freedom of having God as the center of your life, not anything else.

That’s all for today! Thank you so much for reading and make sure to come back soon for more Christian teen girl content <3