4 But God–so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, 5 Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation).”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:4-5 AMPC


You can focus and study all of the things you have available to you in Christ all you want but until you have revelation and truly know and believe he loves you you will never be able to receive the things he paid the price for you to have. We all have people that don't like us (believe it or not it's a fact of life). This past Christmas someone left a container of  homemade chocolates and candies on our porch with no name attached. I was pregnant at the time and remember looking at the chocolates with such excitement and anticipation , I picked them up and held them trying to decide which one (or two...or three) I would have. However, I was hesitant to eat the treats because I realized I didn't know who they came from. "What if they were poisoned? What if the persons house wasn't clean?", were just a few thoughts running through my head. In the end I decided to take my chances and eat the chocolate, but my point is this: It's harder to receive gifts from someone when you don't know the person that gave it to you and their intentions. If it came from a person that did not like me I may question whether I should receive the gift.  If it came from a person that always judged me I may be hesitant in fear they would judge me for eating the chocolate! Where the gift came from and intention matters.

In Ephesians the Bible talks about the gift of salvation Christ gave us through our union with him, now for some this may be hard to believe. Years of religion has taught us we have to earn salvation and come to Christ already cleaned up(or fake). Years of mistakes have only confirmed self doubts or the idea that we are broken and/ or in some way unworthy of good things and here we have Jesus trying to tell us "I have made you worthy, I love you!". 

How do we receive this? Knowing God loves us and not with just a weak love but according to Ephesians a great, wonderful and intense love is the foundation of our faith. In fact 1 John tells us that God is love and that we can put faith in and rely on and believe the love he cherishes for us. You won't be able to receive righteousness without knowing his love towards you and won't be able to receive his promises unless you have been able to truly receive his righteousness that he gifted to you! Do you truly believe God loves you? Why do you believe it, is it because of things you have done to earn it or do you solely trust in his character and intensity of his love for you to receive the gift of righteousness he has given to you? 

Scripture readings: 

Ephesians 2:4-5 AMPC

1 John 4 AMPC