Shortly before my first child was born, I quit work to begin staying home. When she arrived, at six pounds and five ounces of precious perfection, I was thrilled. All the effort that had formerly gone into my career, I now put into my relationship with my daughter and being the best mom I could be.
We took walks together, played together, and listened to music together. I was delighted with everything about her. Ellie was bright and curious and fun to be with, and she was beautiful. Not only that, but she was a great sleeper. I was completely in love.
Nine months after her birth, I found out I was pregnant again.
My husband and I had wanted to become pregnant, and we were elated that it had happened. So I expected the excitement. What I didn’t expect, as my due date drew closer, were the mixed feelings about giving up my time alone with my precious firstborn.
By that point, Ellie was almost eighteen months old. She could walk and run, and she could even talk quite well for her age. She was full of personality, and we had really bonded.
I had mixed emotions about bringing another baby into the house. On the one hand, I was very excited. On the other hand, I was mourning the loss of my and Ellie’s special one-on-one time together.
And, if I was being completely honest with myself, I also had to acknowledge one nagging worry: how could I ever love a second child as much as I loved Ellie?
Friends of mine who had more than one child told me they didn’t know how it worked exactly, but God gives moms enough love for each child they bear. You don’t love the first one the most, the second one a little less, the third one less than that, and the fourth one not at all. It’ll happen, they assured me. Don’t worry.
I tried to take their advice, but I still wondered. Would it really happen? If so, how?
I found out how when Kenny was born. Maybe it’s more accurate to say that while I didn’t find out how, I found that every word of what my friends had said was true. I loved him as much as I loved Ellie. Somehow, instantly, it was true. I hadn’t yet built a relationship with him as I had with her. That would come later. But my love for him was there now, just because he was there and he was mine.
Aren’t you glad that God loves His subsequent children as much as He loves His first, too?
Aren’t you grateful that God has just as much love for you as He does for the first Christian?
And what a blessing it is to know that because of the never-ending nature of His love, God will have as much love available for your child as He has for you.
Let me offer you an even more incredible thought.
Isn’t it absolutely astonishing that God loves us as much as He loves Jesus, His firstborn?
It’s easy for us to acknowledge the all-surpassing love God has for His Son, Jesus. That’s different, we think.
But it’s not. Friend, the same overflowing, boundless love that He gives to His Son, He extends to you and me.
Can you even begin to wrap your mind around that amazing fact? That God loves you fully and completely, as much as He loved His Son, Jesus?
You see, God so loved the world that He gave His Son to die for us and redeem us. He would not give His precious Son on behalf of people He didn’t care about.
Human words aren’t adequate to describe the extent of God’s love for us. For you. For me. But God’s Holy Spirit is adequate.
Bow before Him now. Ask Him to help your spirit to absorb His love. Let it begin to trickle into the tiniest corners of your soul, until it fills you up and permeates your entire being. And even then, you will not know the full extent of it.
But oh, friend, if we can grasp even the tiniest spark of God’s love—if we can begin to realize just how much He loves us—it will change us completely.
Ask Him to help you realize His love in a way you never have before. Your life will never be the same.
John 3:16—For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.