We knew a pastor’s son named Tim. Being a preacher’s kid is like living in a fishbowl of constant criticism and high expectations. Added to this hardship, his mother died of cancer when he was 15. Depressed and confused, Tim became rebellious. It was never anything severe. It was mostly falling short of his father’s expectations. When the father remarried shortly thereafter, he threw Tim out of the house. His father said he had done all he could with Tim, and he’d given up on his son. We can only imagine how hopeless and alone Tim must have felt.

God will never throw us out of His family, nor will He ever give up on us. Ephesians 4:30 promises, when we trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of our sins, we are “sealed unto the day of redemption.” The indwelling Holy Spirit is our assurance from God that our salvation and sonship will remain constant forever. Just as we are saved by grace, we are kept by grace. Romans 8:35-39 promises that absolutely nothing can “…separate us from the love of Christ….” We are secure in the family of God and are always welcome in the presence of God the Father. Our standing with Him never changes, and He continues to work with us through all our ups and downs. Paul was so certain of this, he tells the saints at Philippi that he was “…confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). To be “confident” is to be fully persuaded. The “good work” Paul refers to is the entire process of salvation and sanctification. At the moment we trust in Christ, we are set apart from the penalty of sin and into identification with the righteousness of Christ. Thereafter, we are permanently set apart from the world as we grow in our faith. Paul was convinced this process never ends until we go home to be with the Lord. God will never give up on us, even when we are inconsistent or rebel into a wayward path. God still loves us and seeks to draw us back to Himself. He keeps working within, through the Holy Spirit, and without, through circumstances, to grow us into a mature child of God.

Share the news today that, regardless of ups and downs in our faithfulness, God never gives up on us.