God delights in us

“He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.” 2 Samuel 22:20
Many times throughout the Bible we are told of the reasons God chooses to rescue us. It is not because we did something good, or earned favour with Him in any way. The reason God chooses us is because of His love (see for example Deut. 7:7-8). If God chose us based on anything we had done, it would be salvation by works instead of by grace.
God delights in showing grace and mercy to people who respond to Him. If we truly understood just how far we are removed from God’s perfect standard, and just how powerless we are to do anything about it, then we can start to appreciate the grace God shows to us by offering us salvation through His Son. God is not reluctant to save anybody (1 Tim. 2:4). But the barrier lies in the proud heart of sinful man, who is unwilling to completely surrender his (or her) life to God. We have a hard time accepting pricey gifts from people, especially when we have done nothing to deserve it. This is what God has done for us.
And now that we are saved, God still loves us and delights in us just the same as before. We still don’t need to earn His favour, as if to keep ourselves saved. Yes, good works will follow salvation, but they are a response of gratitude to God, not trying to pay Him back. It’s mindblowing to think that God looks upon us and delights in us. But He does.