Only a day to focus on love can warm the chilly winds of February. Yet if we look to the world for our understanding of love, we will remain dry and brittle. When we turn our hearts to look to God, we find the inexhaustible love of Christ which sacrifices all despite our condition, invests great grace into our lives and is His nature.
Despite our Condition
The Bible tells us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Not that we loved God or even thought about Him. Paul in Romans 5 writes that while we were without strength Christ died for us. He further states that it is very rare for someone to die for someone, but it is possible for one to die for a good person. But God, He shows His love by dying for we who were children of wrath.
Great Grace
God has poured His love into us through His Holy Spirit. I like the word poured. It implies coming from an abundance. Because of the death of Jesus, we become right with God. He took our judgement upon Himself. Our faces look to the future in hope rather than fear. We live knowing that God is not against us, but for us, there is no longer any condemnation. In addition, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. As Paul so beautifully writes, “neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
His Nature
God’s love does not depend upon us. It is His character. He is everlasting. His Son ever lives to make intercession for us. He has called us His children. Love is the characteristic which shows the world that we are. John the apostle says that if we love God who we cannot see, we will also love our brother. We will suffer long and be kind as God is. We won’t be arrogant or rude or self consumed. We won’t be thinking up evil, nor will we rejoice in iniquity, but will rejoice with truth. For “love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” As the God whose nature it is, Love never fails.
Here we find the inexhaustible love of Christ which sacrifices all despite our condition, invests great grace into our lives and is His nature.
May the warmth of His great love not only shelter you but also radiate to those you encounter each day.
