Show God’s Love (1)

“God showed his great love…by sending Christ to die…while we were still sinners.” Ro 5:8 NLT

Human love says, “I’ll love you as long as you meet my expectations, agree with my politics, attend my church, or fit into my social circle.” God isn’t like that. He didn’t wait for us to become worthy before making the first move. “God showed his great love… by sending Christ to die…while we were still sinners.” And when He did, He changed all the rules. Jesus said, “Now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other…Just as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34 NLT); “Love others as much as you love yourself” (Mt 22:39 CEV); “Love…without hoping to get anything back” (Lk 6:35 NCV). Pastor Bill Hybels says: “When I set about the task of loving, I usually end up giving instead of receiving. Love inevitably costs me the three commodities most precious to me—my time, my energy, and my money…When you’re concerned about the well-being of others, you usually have to sacrifice.” Another author adds: “For a while I was angry at love…it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. It didn’t last. It wasn’t worth it. The deeper it went, the more it hurt. Love was irrational, complicated, elusive and unreliable. And I was done with it. Little by little the Lord healed my heart. My anger…began to fade…Now I…see it’s humanity that scars and strangles love…‘Love comes from God’ (1Jn 4:7 NIV), and it’s worth it, whatever the cost. No matter what damage has been done in the name of love, we’re incomplete without it.”

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