Romans 8:38-39 reveals the magnitude of God’s love for us. And we can’t lose His love because we don’t deserve it in the first place. We can’t earn His love because we already have it. God saved us because He loves us, He doesn’t love us because we are saved or sanctified. We were dead in our sins and had done, can do, nothing to earn God’s love, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love…” saved us. Consider Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”ĭid you catch that phrase “while we were still sinners”? God epitomized His love for us while we were still His very enemies.Įphesians 2:4-5 says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” I believe the Bible clearly teaches that God’s love is undeserved. But in truth, that should be the most freeing thing you’ve heard all day, maybe all year, or perhaps in your entire life. My friend, the truth is just the opposite:Īt first glance, such a statement may appear discouraging. It irks me tremendously when I hear Christian authors or speakers telling people that they’re worthy of God’s love. “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8, emphasis mine) Love Undeserved But because love is in the very nature of God. But how wonderful is the knowledge that despite my sin, despite my failures, God does love me. In part, I still believe that, because truly I don’t deserve to be loved by a holy God. The only love I knew had to be earned, and I was a filthy wretch who did not deserve to be loved by a holy God. Growing up in church, I’ve known John 3:16 and “ Jesus Loves Me” for as long as I can remember, but as a young Christian, I struggled deeply with the idea that God loved me. It is unconditional, undeserved, and unrelenting. ![]() In 1 Corinthians 13, perhaps the greatest passage ever written on love, Paul tells us love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Click To Tweetīiblically, however, love is a commitment. We often use the word “love” the same way we would use the word “like”, to describe an emotion, an affinity towards something, or a fleeting experience. Lies that said love always walked away in the end. Lies that said no one would love me unless I was perfect. Much of my early life I carried a weight stemming from lies I allowed myself to believe, lies I brought into my walk as a Christian. I watched my parents, who said they loved each other, fight, argue, hurt each other, and in the end divorce over ‘irreconcilable differences.’ For me, unconditional love was a fantasy. ![]() My perspective was born mostly from what I saw in my own home. I couldn’t understand the idea that anyone would choose to love, much less choose to love unconditionally. ![]() In my mind, love was never guaranteed, and it always had to be earned. The love I knew was very emotional and very conditional. Those words stuck with me and left me wondering if love really could be a choice.Īt the time I didn’t think so. I remember one quote in particular that read, “love is a choice, not a feeling”. When we were younger, my sister would copy various poems and quotes and pin them on a cork board in our room.
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