We live in a world where so much of our value is attached to our performance. From the moment we take our first breath, we are measured by our performance. We’re measured by how quickly we reach our developmental milestones. Then we are measured by our performance at school, our career path. And sadly, how much money we have often becomes the measuring stick of our value. We end up believing that we are only worthy of love if we perform well. But God throws this whole concept upside down in the Bible. There’s literally nothing on the face of this earth we can do to get God’s love. We have to come to Him with empty hands!
Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
Reading this verse just makes me feel so emotional. There is no better demonstration of unconditional love. We can see this because God loved us in our filthy, messy state. If you’ve ever doubted God’s love for you or felt you need to earn it by performing, let this verse sink deep into your heart.
What really stands out to me in this verse is that God chose to love us. And He does this with no strings attached, no hoops to jump through, no terms and conditions. God’s love is the purest love imaginable – it’s unconditional love!
And when we come to Him, we have absolutely nothing to offer Him. All we can is offer ourselves. We have no righteousness of our own, and we can’t try to earn His love through good works. All we can do is humbly, by faith, receive this indescribable gift of salvation and give ourselves to God.
JESUS IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS
Too many of us see God through the lens of performance that tints our lives. We are tempted to work and try to gain His love and approval through our own righteousness and good works. But the Bible calls these filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). I recently heard an excellent illustration for this. Ellen DeGeneres once had Bill Gates on her show and gave him a cheque for $ 20,000.00. Anyone who knows how wealthy he is can fully understand that he wasn’t excited to receive this. Compared to his wealth, it was literally a drop in the ocean. In the same way, God owns everything, and there’s nothing we can do or offer Him to get His love. The key is to understand that God has chosen to love us and places this unconditional love on us, even though we don’t deserve it.
What then should our response be to this extravagant love? We humbly receive it by faith and live in relationship with our incredible Father in Heaven. And as we do, our lives will be marked by good fruit and good works, not because we’re trying to learn God’s love, but because we have it!
It’s a subtle shift in perspective, but one that’s integral to us Christians. Everything we are and everything we do flows from our relationship with God. And as we stay connected to the vine, good fruit and good works are produced in our lives and bring honour to God. What an incredible God we serve! May we all have a deeper understanding and revelation of God’s indescribable, unconditional love for us!
Image Credit: Andrew Moca (Unsplash)