John 3:16 NKJV
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
One of the most amazing characteristics of Gods love is that it is unconditional meaning that he gives it without conditions or in a more understandable term today, with “no strings attached.”
The Bible says that God so loved the world, not the saints or the Jews or the Church. He loved the world, not a perfect sinless world like the one we see in the book of Genesis before the fall but rather a filthy sinful and broken world. That’s the world that he loved.
When we talk about love, it is mostly conditional meaning if you add value to my life and please me then I will love you but if you do not, I will withdraw my love.
Gods love is not based on our holiness and goodness. It is not based on whether we love him back or not. Our behavior and attitude towards him do not determine nor change his love towards us. Gods love for mankind is universal and unconditional. He loves everyone and this sets him apart from the many other gods people believe in.
It is as Philip Yancey once wrote: “There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less.”
As a believer when I recognize the fact that God loves us all the same and that he still loved me even before I knew and responded to his love then that should change my perception and attitude towards those who are not of the faith…. Yet. I should be a conduit and demonstration of that same love from that same God I represent to those who are yet to embrace and reciprocate to his love.
To truly know God is to know love in its truest and most pure form because God does not just love us unconditionally, he is LOVE!
Reflections
What does unconditional love mean to you?
If Gods love towards humanity is unconditional, how should you who is born again respond to those who are not?
How does GRACE relate to Gods unconditional love?
