by Micah Strouse on February 10, 2025
I can remember as a six-year-old being asked by my father, “Son, what is the difference between knowing God’s love and accepting God’s love?” Confused, I looked up at him with a blank stare on my face and responded, “I don’t know.” At the time, my mind could not even begin to wrap itself around the question I had just been asked. My father would just smile and tell me, “Think about it and see what you come up with.”
The question was a great one that took me a long time to answer. For some, if they were asked this question, they would, just as I was, be confused, not knowing how to answer. For others, they may respond that there is no difference—that they are the same. This question of knowing and accepting, I think, hits on one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves: What is the difference between knowing and accepting God’s love?
I believe there is an important difference between the two. Knowing that God loves me is a good thing, but on the whole, it tends to be an intellectual process. It is something that I know in my mind, that I understand is the truth due to reading the Bible, hearing a worship song, or perhaps listening to an excellent sermon given on a Sunday.
I hear that God loves me, all the things that He has done for me, all His attributes, and I can know that these are true. I can gather all that information to know that God loves me, which is wonderful, but knowing does not always mean putting that knowledge into practice. It stays as knowledge, not affecting my day-to-day life beyond a wonderful reminder that I am loved by God.
It took me years to formulate an answer to the question about God’s love my father asked—not that I wasn’t asked it enough over the years. The answer I was finally able to come up with came when I was around 12 or 13 years old. My answer was, “Well, isn’t it like a present? I may know I have a present on Christmas, but I do not know what is inside it. I have to pick up the present and open it, not just leave it under the tree, if I want to see what is inside.”
My father again smiled and asked, “So how does that relate to God’s love?”
“Well, it’s the same as His love. I know it’s there because the Bible says He loves me, and I know He does because He is my Savior. But I have to accept His love to experience it, not just let it sit there.”
In other words, accepting God’s love means experiencing it on a personal level—allowing it to affect my life by changing my thoughts and actions because I am experiencing His love while surrendering my life to that love. God’s love is an experiential love. He is not a God who stays far away from us but instead is with us throughout our day. He wants to partner with us in everything that we do—not because He needs to, but because He wants to, out of His love for us. That love is given to us freely, and there is nothing we can do to earn it. We can strive as hard as we possibly can, but it will honestly never be enough. We are not good enough.
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23 NLT). “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV).
It is not about striving to somehow earn that love; instead, it means accepting His love and surrendering our lives to Him. When we surrender our lives to Him, it means accepting Him into every area of our lives.
Revelation 3:20 (ESV) says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Accepting God’s love is opening the door to our hearts when He knocks and allowing Him in, which leads to a transformational relationship with the Lord. God is standing at the door and knocking, asking to be let into our lives. He has given us the free will to let Him in or leave the door closed, but He stands at the door as the God who is love and wants to draw near to us. All we have to do is open the door.
Oftentimes, we are scared to open the door and accept God’s love. It could be for any number of reasons. Our earthly relationships may not have been the greatest, and we have received hurts or wounds that can make it difficult to accept love. Perhaps we are scared to accept God’s love because we want to be in control of our lives, not wanting to surrender. Part of accepting God’s love means relying on Him and trusting in Him. We trust and rely on Him through surrender, accepting that He is Lord, and we need to submit to Him—dying to ourselves and the world, taking up our cross daily, and following Him (Luke 9:23-24).
God is inviting us to accept His love for us. He desires an intimate relationship with us—for us to experience His love on a deeper level and allow His love to affect our daily choices and lives. It is love like no other that we can know, but to experience His love is to live life to the fullest. That is one of the reasons He came and that He gives us His love.
“I came to give you life to the fullest.”
Press into His love, open the door when He knocks, don’t be afraid to accept His love, and surrender your life to His love. Don’t just know His love—accept His love.
