“…[nothing] will be able to separate us from the love of God…” (Rom 8:38-39)
In the middle of a sermon about overcoming rejection, a popular minister stopped, looked at the camera and spoke softly and deliberately, “God loves you and he will never reject you.” I scoffed. That’s like telling a teenage boy who’s been dumped by his girlfriend that his mother loves him. Big help! I didn’t say it out loud but Heaven heard me.
Later that day, with my scoffing long forgotten, my thoughts drifted to the love of God. What does it mean to be “loved by God”? This was Christianity 101, Jesus-loves-me-this-I-know stuff, but it didn’t seem so 101 anymore.
To be loved is to be valued or cherished by another. It is for someone to delight or take pleasure in us. We are loved when we are celebrated and treated with respect, kindness, and patience, and especially when viewed as worthy of sacrifice.
When that love emanates from God—whose very essence is love (1 Jn. 4:8)—it is both qualitatively and quantitatively different. God’s love is as infinite, pure, perfect, and complete as he is.
Human love, no matter how intense, beautiful, or committed, will always be imperfect and susceptible to failure. We are broken, and we love out of that brokenness. Our love is almost always conditional, sometimes selfish, and often tainted by the mixed motives that reflect the moral conflict within us. It falters often or fails entirely when we are disappointed by the object of our love. But God’s love is as steadfast as He is. He loves us. Period.
Because he is boundless, we are recipients of boundless manifestations of his love (kindness, grace, care, fierce protection, etc.). Because he is good, his love for us is selfless and pure, seeking only our highest good. Because he is holy, he does not force himself onto us, and he does not try to manipulate or control us; he gives us the freedom to reject his love. His love is so complete that even if we reject him a million times, he keeps his door open for our return should we choose to do so.
It’s remarkable that a morally pure being who knows everything, including things we don’t know about ourselves, loves us completely and chooses to continue loving us despite our failures, weaknesses, and downright depravity.
If understood and embraced, God’s love for us should be a source of profound security and comfort in any situation no matter how difficult or painful. Along life’s journey we may lose cherished loves, but they are inherently lesser. The greater and more perfect love remains.
The phrase “God loves you” should not evoke a shrug but profound gratitude. May we never take it for granted.
What does the phrase “God loves you” mean to you? Take some time to think about it.