“God’s love is not dependent on us. “The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” C.S. Lewis. .
“God’s unfailing love for us is an objective fact affirmed over and over in the Scriptures. It is true whether we believe it or not. Our doubts do not destroy God’s love, nor does our faith create it. It originates in the very nature of God, who is love, and it flows to us through our union with His beloved Son.” Jerry Bridges .
The LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. – Jer. 31:3 (ESV)
Hymn of Adoration and Praise:
The love of God is greater far
than tongue or pen can ever tell;
it goes beyond the highest star,
and reaches to the lowest hell.
The wand’ring child is reconciled
by God’s beloved Son.
The aching soul again made whole,
and priceless pardon won.
Refrain:
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
the saints’ and angels’ song.
Source: Voices Together #162
As we celebrate another Valentine, I desire to pip into the deep ocean of the God’s great love. To know the love of God for us is essential to healthy Christian living. God’s love is fundamental to our identity as his children and the sacrifice of Jesus. If you aren’t rooted and grounded in the unconditional love of God, you will be like a dead fish in the sea being carried about by the current. Most Christians seem to believe that God loves them, but could be head knowledge. Many begin to doubt the reality of God’s love especially when going through difficult situations, I call it trying (dry) season. Again when it comes to the issue of love everyone claim to know it all. Neither do I know better than attempt to put the pieces together. Generally, people love animals, vehicles, furniture, guns, books and anything on God’s earth as well as human beings. We give bunch of roses on valentine morning and pull a gun in the evening. Some people bear love as name while others have just another doing word. Permit me to say that love is one of the most abused words in our world. In this bias, many may compare human type of love with God’s love. Sorry no, comparison! Some people neither believe in love, nobody loves nor even God. Other group doesn’t believe in God talk less His love. “𝗪𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗛𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝘀.” 𝟭 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝟰:𝟭𝟵I have short great confession to make: I believe in God and that He exists and loves me. My daily living testifies to this truth. I know that He loves me. God is with me, He hears me, and He has not and won’t abandon me. His love is my daily confidence. I know this because in every life challenge I face, I see and experience his power and help. God’s love is unconditional and unchanging. There is nothing that I can do to make God love us more or less. God’s love is not dependent on me but love is His character. I join the Psalmist in 124 “If the Lord had not been on our side (let all Israel admit it), if the Lord had not been on our side, 2-3 we would have been swallowed alive by our enemies, destroyed by their anger. 4-5 We would have drowned beneath the flood of these men’s fury and pride.”. I encourage you to open your heart afresh to this reality that God is love and God loves you. I pray that in my little way God would reveal his love to you in a real and new dimension. Jesus loves me” is the central affirmation of the Christian faith and the cornerstone of the nature of God.
In his sermon on The Love of God, Dr George Flattery describes love as man’s deepest need. He writes, “One of the deepest needs of our hearts is to be loved by others. Not only do we want to be loved, but we want also for others to make that love known to us… a demonstration of their love….We need for others to be concerned about us, to act in our interest, and to surround us with understanding. Many people recognize this need for love and readily give and accept love at its various levels. However, sometimes people despair of ever being loved. Moreover, they find it difficult to love others. You may be among the people who have this difficulty. Perhaps you have grown up in a loveless environment. Neither home nor community has shown you much love. As a result, you have lost hope. Your hopelessness may even lead you to deny that you need love. An even deeper need is to be loved by God and to see a demonstration of His love. People who believe in God usually will admit that they desire to experience His love. Even when people deny the existence of God, they need His love….We must realize that even when others do not love us, God intensely loves us.”God loves you because it’s His character. He loves you not because of duty, but because it’s who He is and what He does.”
Our Presbyterians describes their business: “Christianity is built on faith, love and hope. We believe that God made us to love and to be loved. This is the Good News that we believe we must share with others.”They further describe God’s Love, “God love is the deliberate act of valuing someone more than you value yourself. Love is a deliberate act of caring and listening to others. Love is wanting others to succeed, to be happy and fulfilled. God made us to love and be loved. God loves us……God continuously and deliberately values us more than himself. God places us before him. The cross is the ultimate expression of that. God the son, Emmanuel, God with us chose to die on the cross to sacrifice himself for each one of us. …..Not just the cross; not just the act; think about the reason behind it. God loves me and God loves you. He did not do this for Christians. There were no Christians yet. He did this for sinners. He did this for the World.” – Central Presbyterian Church Cambridge Ontario.
On God’s Love Quotes Fritz Chery explains, “There is nothing that God saw in us that made Him love us. His love is freely given. This should give us so much comfort. His love is not like our love. Our love for the most part is conditional. We struggle to have unconditional love when loving someone becomes challenging. You and I may love someone until they stop loving us back or stop pleasing us. However, God’s love for sinful people is remarkable, relentless, hard to fathom, and never-ending. God loves us so much that He sent His Perfect Son to die on the cross for our sins, so that we could have eternal life, know Him, and enjoy Him. We never have to worry about if we’re loved by God or not. He has proven His love for us on the cross of Jesus Christ. Take a moment to think about this amazing truth. The Father sent His only Son, His sinless Son, His perfect Son, and His obedient Son to the cross.” He adds, “While hell was staring you in the face, Jesus took your place. Christ has removed your shackles and He put His self in the position where you should be. I love the words of John Piper. “Jesus jumped in front of the wrath of God and adverted it, so that the smile of God rests upon you today in Christ rather than anger.” Jesus willingly gave His life for sinners such as ourselves. He died, He was buried, and He resurrected, defeating sin and death.”
On God’s Love is Everlasting, Kirstyn Mayden writes, “God’s love never fails. When people, circumstances, and life disappoint us, God’s love is constant. God’s love encourages us when we are down, and motivates us to press forward in times of adversity. Unlike human love that is conditional, God’s love is unconditional and always has our best interest at heart. Despite times that we may turn away from God, God’s love continues to pursue us back to Him. Jeremiah, the prophet reassures the people of Israel that God has not forgotten them and that God’s love is consistent, everlasting, and unwavering.
In God’s Unfailing Love, Mayden explains God’s love is constant, consistent, and steadfast. Despite our continual flaws, sin, and tendency to become distant from God, God’s love draws us closer back to Him. In a world where giving and receiving love is often conditional and fleeting, God’s love is stable, healing, comforting, and a source of refuge. While we may not always “feel” God’s love, the Bible reminds and reaffirms to us that God’s love is unfailing, unmovable, and unconditional. God’s love cannot be compared to human, relational love because there is no comparison. “The love of God is not created- it is His nature.” Oswald Chambers
The Word of God and its promises serve as a reminder and direction for us each day as we move forward. Although we may not always feel God’s love, we are assured that God is present. I encourage you to reconnect with God through prayer, writing, or singing to be filled with God’s love anew. As you are able to experience God’s love in new ways, I encourage you to share it with others. God’s love is always available!
Here are few amazing scripture verses on God’s love:
- “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
- Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
- “For God so loved the world, that He gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”(John3:16).
- 1 John 4:7-12. Dear friends: let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
- And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Mark12:33 ESV
- Eph 1:v 7–8: In Him we have redemption • through His blood, • the forgiveness of our trespasses, • according to the riches of His grace • which He lavished upon us.
- The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. ~Psalm 103:
- The benefits of God’s love (Psalm 103:2, NIV) by Rick Ezell
The benefits of God’s love (Psalm 103:2, NIV) by Rick Ezell
The Psalmist uncovers all the phases of life that God’s love has touched and in turn benefited and blessed the recipient.
- Spiritually (v. 3, 12) Spiritually God’s love removes the barrier that separates us from him by canceling the debt of our sin so that we can enjoy a loving relationship with him. God’s love removes our sins as though they never existed.
- Emotionally (v. 3) Much of our physical and emotional illness is due to moral failure. In removing the sin and guilt from our lives God’s love brings healing to our emotional life.
- Eternally (v. 4) The pit is the pit of death. God’s love rescues us, fallen humanity, from our own bent on destruction, and grants us eternal life.
- Authoritatively (v. 4) God’s love places a crown of royal glory and authority on us. God’s love “. . . made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father” (Rev. 1:6). He have been crowned with his love and given a new citizenship on this earth and in heaven.
- Physically (v. 5 ) Like a father he desires to give us good gifts of strength and endurance. Jesus, the embodiment of God’s love came enjoying life, and he wants his children to do the same.
- Judicially (v. 6) Here we find a major difference between divine love and what so often passes for love among people. Often, love is expressed as that virtue that accepts everything. But, God’s love always makes judgment calls. Divine love hates what is wrong and embraces what is right.