Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! (1 John 3:1)

What do you think God’s love is? Do you envision a permissive love that allows you to do whatever you want? That doesn’t describe the love of God. You see, God loves you enough to put restrictions in your life. He loves you enough to say, “Do this. It will help you. And don’t do this. It’s bad for you.”

Suppose a child asks his mother, “Mommy, can I play in the street?” Of course she would say, “No, you may not. I love you and don’t want you to be in a place where you would be endangered. One day, you will realize that I did this not from a lack of love, but because I do love you.”

It’s the same with us. When God says no to us, it’s not because He doesn’t love us. It’s just the opposite.

In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam, “‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:16-17). So the devil tempted Eve: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). Essentially he was saying, “If God really loved you, then He would let you do whatever you want.” The truth was that because God loved Adam and Eve, He didn’t want them to fall into sin. Yet they disobeyed God and that’s exactly what happened.

Those limits that you find in the pages of the Bible are there for your own good. God has put a fence around you, so to speak. But it’s not to keep you confined—it’s to keep you safe from the many dangers in this world—and in the invisible spiritual world that surrounds us.