For the longest time I remember feeling so distant from God. I knew He loved me, or at least that’s what everyone said, but I never truly believed it. I was messed up. How could God love me? But then one day someone said something to me that completely changes the way I looked at God’s love.
I was talking with one of my pastors one day, and he gave me a demonstration that really stuck with me. We were standing in church, and he was holding his baby daughter. As we talked, he looked down at his daughter and said “If you ever told me something was wrong with her, I’d tell you to back off. Do you know why?” “Because you love her.” I replied. “Exactly. I know everything about her, and I still love her.” He continued “Just like how Yahweh knows everything about you and still chooses to love you.” I thought about what my pastor said for a while after that conversation. God really loved me that much?
After this conversation I started seeing evidence of God’s love while reading my Bible. The first thing I notices is that God’s love is universal. It’s not just for men, or jews, but everyone. Romans 3:28 says “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” and Acts 10:34 says “Now I realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right.”
Next, God’s love is sacrificial. The Greek word for sacrificial love is agape, and this word is used 116 times in the Bible. This includes the very famous verse John 3:16 “For God so loved (agape) the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” and of course 1 Corinthians 13, which describes all the characteristics of love. This chapter in first Corinthians becomes even more powerful when you realize that God fits perfectly into all the characteristics listed.
Finally, God’s love is unconditional. Read Psalm 136. In this psalm each line is followed by the phrase “for His love endures forever.” Nothing we do can separate us from our Father’s love.