After the birth of our first child, I really began to understand the love God has for us. When our son was just a baby, I realized how much I loved him even though he was not yet able to do much. Over the years, my love for him has grown and deepened, as it has for our daughter as well. Because I love our children, I make sacrifices in order for them to have the best. I have changed my schedule at times so they can have extra rest if needed. I have also stayed at home instead of attending evening activities when it was the best thing to do for them. I do these things because of my love for them.
God’s love for us is much greater than any earthly parent’s love for his or her child. God made the ultimate sacrifice of giving His only begotten Son for you and me, and He consistently demonstrates His love to us. God is caring, forgiving, and always there for us. Let’s go to God’s Word to learn about the greatest love of all time and our logical response to it.
God’s love is the greatest love of all time. We know this because of the great sacrifice He made for us.
John 3:16:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
No greater sacrifice has ever been made. God showed His love for us by giving His own Son so that we could have everlasting life.
I John 4:10:
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation [payment] for our sins.
He gave His only begotten Son not only for our redemption but for our wholeness. He did this not because we deserved it but because He loved us and desired to have fellowship with us. To put it simply, God’s motive was love—unfathomable, unconditional love.
God shows His love for us in many ways. One way He shows His love is by caring for us. God’s Word declares His great care for us.
I Peter 5:7 [The Amplified Bible]:
Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.
The latter part of this verse shows that we are the object of God’s care. God cares about and is interested in us. He is concerned about our lives. God says that we can cast all of our anxieties, worries, and concerns on Him. Why? Because He affectionately cares for us, and He watches over us. Just as loving parents want their children to come to them with concerns or worries, our heavenly Father desires that we come to Him with what’s on our hearts. Caring parents are affectionate, tender, and loving toward their children. Our heavenly Father is affectionate, tender, and loving toward us even more. We see the loving care He has for us as we take our cares and concerns to Him.
Another way that God shows His love for us is by forgiving us. Psalms 103:12 states, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” He chooses to forget our shortcomings and to remember only the good things in our lives. When we were born again, we received complete remission of sins (Acts 2:38). For any sins committed after we are born again, we confess our sins to God and He forgives us.
I John 1:9:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God does not hold a grudge when we make mistakes. When we confess our sins, He forgives us and remembers our sins no more. In Life Lines: Quotations of Victor Paul Wierwille, there is a quote, “God sees you through the eyes of His Son who redeemed you.” God chooses to see the born-again believer through loving, forgiving eyes. He loves us in spite of what we have or have not done. Keeping in mind how God views us helps us extend the same kindness to others when they make mistakes.
Ephesians 4:32:
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
This is something I remind our two children of when they have trouble forgiving each other. Human nature, the old-man nature, may not be forgiving, but God’s nature, and our new-man nature, is to be forgiving at all times. As believers, we renew our minds to the Word of God, putting on the new nature (God’s nature), and we forgive. Why? We do it because God forgives us….
This is an excerpt from the September/October 2014 issue of The Way Magazine.
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