Have you ever realized just how much our heavenly Father loves you? Or that His love for you is from everlasting to everlasting! Jesus, as I shared in an earlier devotion, is just plain crazy about you. As a human being you have incredible intrinsic value to God so much so that He created you in His very own image.
I love how the late Pastor Adrian Rogers put it: “When did Jesus start loving you? He never did—He has always loved you. He loved you before time began. He loved you before He swung this planet into space. You were in the heart and mind of God before the foundation of the world.”1 And praise God this amazing love for you and me, as His children, is based on His character and not on our performance. Pastor Rick Warren summed up this thought well when he said: “There is nothing you can do that will make God stop loving you. You could try, but you simply can’t do it – because his love for you is based upon his character and not on anything you do or say or feel.”2
And if you want to really get a glimpse of God’s love just read (Psalm 136). When we think deeply about the love of God there is just no chapter in the entire Bible that emphasizes God’s love more than (Psalm 136). It is absolutely breathtaking to read that the phrase, “His love endures forever,” occurs in all 26 consecutive verses of this psalm; in the New International Version translation. How can we not fall in love with a God who loves us this much! Not only that, but God loves us even when we had no love for Him. We read in (Romans 5:8): “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” I don’t know about you but for many years I wouldn’t give God the time of day but He never stopped pursuing and loving me.
I can’t even begin to fathom that God loved me so much that He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to die on Calvary’s cross and pay the price for my sins so that I could enter into a relationship with Him; and a relationship that will last forever. I believe that the least we can do for God, for this awesome demonstration of love, is to offer Him our highest praise and thanksgiving each and every day; for He indeed is so good! And when it comes to extending love to others, I believe Billy Graham had the best answer: “I am convinced the greatest act of love we can ever perform for people is to tell them about God’s love for them in Christ.”3
My friends, if you have ever tried to define Christian love perhaps the best definition ever can be found in how the Apostle Paul defines it in (1 Corinthians 13:4-7): “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
This special type of love, called agape love, can’t be manifested in the life of a non-Christian because a person needs a transformed heart to love like Christ loved. Agape love does not come naturally to us. Because of our fallen nature, we are incapable of producing such a love. But because, as Christians, the Holy Spirit dwells within us we can love like Christ loved.
In closing, never forget that you are created in the image of God, that Jesus loved you before the foundations of the earth, that nothing can separate you from this love, and that we have the great privilege of being able to reciprocate this love back to God and to mankind!
1 Inspirational Quotes by Adrian Rogers (bibleportal.com)
2 TOP 25 CHRISTIAN LOVE QUOTES (of 145) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
3 TOP 25 CHRISTIAN LOVE QUOTES (of 145) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)