Even At Our Worst

 

In our world today, you tend to hear “Love is Love,” “Love is God,” and the narrative is starting to

get traction and stick in the mind of people; however, let us start by first setting the record straight:

“God is Love,” and He exemplifies this most unimaginably. God’s love is not like the love we often

see in the world. In the Epistle to the Romans 5:8, the Bible says,

"But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still

sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us.” This means God did not wait for us to become good before loving us. He loved us at our worst. When we were broken, ashamed, lonely, or forgotten, His love was already reaching toward us. One of the worst feelings anyone can have is loneliness or feeling left out. But God’s love is different. It is steady, faithful, unchanging, and inclusive in a way the world cannot comprehend.

God’s love is unique and incomparable because it is a giving love. Every February 14, people celebrate Valentine’s Day, and there are exchanges of cards, flowers, and chocolates. Those are kind gestures; they have feelings that fickle, and they are also limited to an individual’s capacity, but God gave something far greater. He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us. Imagine a judge stepping down from his seat to take the punishment for the guilty person in the courtroom. That is what God did through Christ. Or picture a shepherd walking into a storm to carry a weak lamb home on his shoulders. That is how God loves you, personally, sacrificially, and completely. No human love can fully compare with that.

This love must be understood the right way and not the world’s way. God’s love is not just a warm feeling; it is a holy and holistic love. He does not ignore sin, but He provides forgiveness through Jesus. The cross is like a bridge over a deep canyon. On one side is our sin and separation; on the other side is God’s forgiveness and eternal life with Him. Jesus, is that bridge. When we trust in Him, we cross over from guilt to grace. God’s love is not earned by good works, money, or status. It is received by faith, by believing that Christ died for you and rose again.

I hope you celebrate Valentine’s Day properly; however, remember that you are already loved with the greatest love of all. You may not receive a card or a visit, but if you belong to Christ, you are not forgotten. See God’s love like a warm blanket on a cold night, wrapping around you when you feel alone. See it like a light shining through a dark window, reminding you there is hope. Romans 5:8 tells us that God proved His love not just with words, or healing, or doing good deeds, but at the cross for the most wretched being like you and me. That love is for you. And it will never fail.

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