A Love You Can Rely On

1 John 4:16a “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love…”

God is love. He doesn’t just show love or do loving things, but He is love. This is one of the many attributes that God has revealed about Himself in His word. Love is Who God is and that is a fact that we can rely on.We have all known loving people. They are selfless and think of others more than themselves, but because of sin even the most gracious of people have times when they say an unkind word, think an unloving thought, or act in a selfish way. This is not so of God. All that He is, He is all the time and no circumstance will change that.

God showed His love to us by sending Jesus to live in human flesh in a world full of sin and pain. Jesus experienced all the heartbreak and suffering that the world can inflict, and yet He was without sin. His sinless nature never changed because He was still fully God.

Recently, while reading about the crucifixion, this God-Fact came home to me in a new way. Jesus had been betrayed by a close friend, taken away in the middle of the night to experience a mock trial, rejected by the very ones He had come to save, and deserted by His disciples. He had been mocked, spit upon, and nailed to a Roman cross where He experienced terrible pain, humiliation, and death.

In a moment like this it would be understandable to tune everything out and focus only on pain management or survival. Yet I was touched that even in this horrendous circumstance, Jesus didn’t change or act differently.

The soldiers had taken His clothes and divided them up amongst themselves. The final garment was a seamless undergarment woven in one piece from top to bottom. The heartless soldiers cast lots for this piece to see who would get to keep it.

At that moment the book of John tells that Jesus looked down and saw His mother standing near the cross (I couldn’t help but wonder if Mary had made this seamless garment for her Son). In the midst of His pain, Jesus called out to His mother and lovingly provided for her by directing one of His disciples to take her home and care for her.

How could someone be concerned about others while experiencing such pain? It is because God is love. That fact never waxes or wains with circumstances. There is nothing we could do, anywhere we could go, or any circumstance in which God would stop loving us. For those who have been born of God, there is nothing to fear when surrounded by this perfect love.

During this Thanksgiving season, let’s be thankful that we have a God Who doesn’t change. He is a God of love all the time – that is a fact we can know and rely on.

Love,

Mama