By Mallory Mattingly
Bethany Hamilton wants everyone to know that God loves them.
“God gave me purpose to be loved by him. Life has so many pains, losses and challenges along the way. We need hope beyond ourselves. You are loved, too,” the pro surfer wrote in a post on Instagram.
Hamilton then included John 15:9-13, which talk about remaining in Christ’s love.
Related: Bethany Hamilton Clings to This Verse Amid ‘Super Rough Season’
The verses read:
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
“Throughout my life, there’s been so many challenges, but if there’s one thing I know….The peace of God is always there with me…In my own wrongdoing and in the wrongdoings of others, and just flat out hard parts of life, I know that God is with me and he will never leave me. His love is pure and perfect,” Hamilton concluded in the post. “This brings me hope every single day.”
Hamilton dives deeper into the topic of hope in her “All Things Possible” podcast.
In one of her latest episodes, she talked with Orlando Magic star Jonathan Isaac about his ability to play basketball with no expectations.
“I don’t have to play for anybody else. I don’t have to be perfect. I don’t have to be what anybody else wants me to be,” Isaac said.
He then explained how he came to know Christ.
“I was the number 1 pick in the state at Florida State University on anxiety medication. And from the outside looking in, nobody would have thought that there was so much kind of inner turmoil going on, but I really didn’t think that I could live up to the hype of everybody else’s expectations of me,” Isaac admitted.
“And I remember I met a guy in an elevator, and he told me, ‘I can tell you how to be great.’ And I said, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘You have to know Jesus,'” he recalled. “A bunch of circumstances of God making Himself real to me to the point where I understood what unconditional love was. I didn’t have to work for love. I didn’t have to make a shot for love. God loved me for me.”
Let’s take heart in God’s unconditional love and experience the hope, peace and comfort it brings, not matter life circumstances we’re facing.
Read Next: Jonathan Isaac Describes Moment God Called Him to Preach
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