For the Love of God …
God loves you.
Ever really thought about that?
If you’re like me, you see it posted at least once a day on social media. It’s so common in most settings, it has become noise. Easy to ignore.
But what does it really mean to say that God loves you?
As Christians, we believe that God created everything. In addition to creating the universe, galaxies, stars and planets, God created each of us. Individually. We are told that God knows all about us, down to how many strands of hair we have. We believe that even though we don’t always do what God wants us to do, God still loves us. We’re not perfect – not even close. How is it that God loves us?
We’re just humans. But we all love something or someone.
I love Hoss.
Hoss is my BMW R1200RT. I took this photo at the beginning of an Iron Butt ride from Durham, NC to Daytona, FL and back with barely 2,500 miles on the clock.
Spending 18 straight hours on a bike for over 1,000 miles will tell you a lot about it. Hoss has a 500 mile seat. I was standing on the pegs 90% of the final 150 miles.
But I love Hoss.
Have children? I do and I love my children.
You bring children into the world, then spend years getting to know them. You learn to know your children extremely well. They each have their own individual personalities. Not everyone agrees and they don’t always do things the way you would.
But you love them.
How about a wife or partner?
We find that one person that gets us. And we get them. We spend as much time together as we can and get to know each other extremely well. We each have our own personalities. We don’t always agree and our partner doesn’t always do things the way we would.
But we love them.
There are many different ways to love. Loving objects. Loving family. Romantic love. Our love is usually conditional and is not perfect. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t love.
I John 4:8 says Whoever does not know love does not know God. For God is love.
When we love, as imperfect as our love is, we participate in God.
When God loves, God is. And that is how God can love us. Perfectly.
Further Reading …
This post referenced 1 John 4:8.
