Around this time of year we begin hearing a lot of “love talk” as it is nearing Valentine’s Day. When we think of Valentine’s Day all sorts of images are conjured up in our minds I’m sure. From candy hearts, broken hearts, chocolate, roses and hugs & kisses from the people we love the most.
But there is a much deeper and profound kind of love that I want to discuss. If you have been around church circles or have been a believer for any time at all, you have most definitely heard that God loves you. You believe that God loves you because He sent his son Jesus to earth to die in your place. And it stops right about there without a lot of further explanation. If you are anything like me, I’m left believing this but somehow have a hard time wrapping my arms around the enormity of it.
God’s love is not like human love. Human love is very fickle. Our emotions can be up one day and down the next. We often try to behave in certain ways to get others to love us. But God’s love is different. It is unconditional, infinite and limitless. Do you realize that God made you to love you? You are the object of His love.
1 John 4:8 says that God IS LOVE. In Greek, “is love”, is one word and it is a noun. Meaning a person, not a feeling or action. If you have received Jesus, then you have received love. That one thought could revolutionize your life!
You see, God’s love is not something that He gives away like people do. It is not something that He has, it is who He is. It is not an emotion, it is His essence and being. God is love like we are human. Therefore, there is not one thing we can do to rack up brownie points to get Him to love us. We cannot cause God to love us. He loves us because of who He is not because of who we are. Since God’s love is who He is, then it is unchangeable no matter what we do or don’t do.
Knowing you are loved by God is vital. We cannot function properly without God’s love. His love is our batteries so to speak. It is what allows us to function properly in life.
To give you an illustration of this kind of love, try to envision a baby that was left on a bench in the park. There are 5 mothers walking by. All of them run to embrace the baby. Why? They do not know who the baby is. The baby has not done anything to earn their love. They love and embrace that baby because it exists. Just like this baby, we are loved by God because we exist and there is not a thing we can do to earn it.
God’s love is not an emotion but it is very emotional. One of his pet names for His children throughout the bible, is the “apple of His eye”. He is crazy about you! You see, when we really start to believe that God loves us we start to function properly. We no longer have to be needy for others to fill areas of our heart that are only meant for God to fill.
How about you? Has the concept of God’s love become a reality for you? At Crossway we love journeying with folks as they grow in their relationship with God. Please give us a call. We would love the opportunity to talk with you.