God loves us—eternally and unconditionally—and He remembers every expression of our love for Him. He keeps track of our faithfulness to Him and the teachings in His Word, and our perseverance in whatever situation we are in. He rejoices in our labors of love and every time we reach out to those who are suffering and in need (Hebrews 6:10).
What He doesn’t keep track of in His mercy and He doesn’t remember against us are our failures, our mistakes, and our sins (Hebrews 8:12). He remembers our frame, that we are only dust and have so much to learn, and as we repent of our shortcomings, He covers them in His love and forgives us (Psalm 103:14).
It may take us a lifetime and beyond to fully become the person God created us to be, but He rejoices every time we choose to fulfill His purpose in our lives. Regardless of what tasks He calls us to in this life, what matters to Him is our faithfulness to do our best (Revelation 2:10).
Of course, being faithful in the face of the day-in and day-out struggles of life isn’t easy. We need God’s Spirit working in and through us to meet the great need in this troubled world for His love and truth, and to reach the many lost and empty hearts in need of the Savior. Regardless of the challenges we face in this life—illness, loss of loved ones, unfair treatment, lack of finances—our example of trusting the Lord can impart hope to those around us.
As we acknowledge our need for God’s strength in our weakness, we find that His grace provides what we need to follow Him day by day (2 Corinthians 12:9). If we keep our eyes fixed on Him, no matter what we face, we can continue to press on to take hold of our heavenward calling in Jesus (Philippians 3:12–14 NIV). God’s Spirit can shine through us to bring His peace, clarity and comfort to people around us who are mired in the confusion of this world.
Jesus sees your heart. Even if your situation only allows you to manifest His love in seemingly small ways, everything we do for Jesus and others matters to God. So wherever we find ourselves, let’s be faithful to “continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise through Jesus” and “not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Hebrews 13:15–16 NIV).