A friend described his grandmother as one of the greatest influences in
his life. Throughout his adult years, he has kept her portrait next to his desk
to remind himself of her unconditional love. “I really do believe,” he said,
“that she helped me learn how to love.”
Not everyone has had a similar taste of human love, but through Christ
each of us can experience being well-loved by God. In 1 John 4, the word love occurs
27 times, and God’s love through Christ is cited as the source of our love for
God and for others. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved
us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (v.10). “We have known
and believed the love that God has for us” (v.16). “We love Him because
He first loved us” (v.19).
God’s love is not a slowly dripping faucet or a well we must dig for
ourselves. It is a rushing stream that flows from His heart into ours. Whatever
our family background or experiences in life—whether we feel well-loved by
others or not—we can know love. We can draw from the Lord’s inexhaustible
source to know His loving care for us, and we can pass it on to others. In
Christ our Savior, we are well-loved.
Nothing is more powerful than God’s love. (RBC)
