We see all throughout the pages of Scripture that God’s love is absolutely unconditional. This means that God’s love for us is not dependent on what we do or don’t do. You may have heard the saying that there’s nothing we can do to make God love us more, and there’s nothing we can do to make God love us less. And this is certainly true.
Instead of loving us based on how good or bad we are, God loves us because He IS love (1 John 4:8). This means He’s made of love. At the very core of who He is, He is love. Therefore, His love for us isn’t based on actions, it’s based on His unchanging character that causes His love for us.
The gospel is the ultimate expression of God’s unconditional love. God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to a sin-filled world because He loved us (John 1:14; John 3:16; John 15:13). God knew we would sin and fall away from Him. But instead of leaving us in that state, He sent Jesus to bear our punishment, to die the death WE deserve because of our sin, so that we could be counted as forgiven and free.
That, my friends, is love. And not only that, but God sent Jesus to die for a world He knew would reject Him. He knew that even though He gave His Son, some would still reject Him. He died for those people, too. That’s unconditional love.
The apostle Paul explains how amazing and rare this kind of sacrificial love is: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).
In the gospel message, God doesn’t wait for us to clean ourselves up, to get it all together, or to start being better people. He loved us so much He sent Jesus to die for us, to rescue us out of our sin and darkness. He met us where we were at: dirty, sin-filled, and gone astray. There’s no room for conditional love in God’s economy. He loves us no matter what. And He proved it by sending Jesus to be our rescuer when we couldn’t have been farther from Him.
1 John 4:9-10 tells us, “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
It’s God who moves toward us. It’s a love that always initiates, not one that responds to anything we could do. That’s what makes it unconditional. So today, dear friend, you can rest in the knowledge of God's unconditional love for you. No matter how bad your past has been, no matter how many mistakes you make in the future, there is nothing that will separate you from God's love (Romans 8:38-39; Ephesians 2:4-5).
Take a deep breath. God loves you. Period. That’s the gospel message. You don’t have to worry about messing up so badly that God will not love or forgive you. You don’t have to try harder or do more to make Him love you more. He loves you right where you are. Right now. And nothing on earth will ever change that.
God’s love is absolutely unconditional. The gospel is the ultimate expression of God’s unconditional love. God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to a sin-filled world to save us because He loves us (John 1:14; John 3:16; John 15:13). Instead of loving us based on how good or bad we are, God loves us because He IS love (1 John 4:8). His love for us isn’t based on actions, it’s based on His unchanging character that causes His love for us.
Stephanie is a 21-year old with a passion to see believers grow and become passionate in their relationship with the Lord. She is a lover of sweat tea, sunshine, and the freedom that comes from Christ. In her free time, she can be found singing, playing guitar, writing or jamming out to Hawk Nelson, Phil Wickham, and worship music. Her dreams are to become a worship leader and a published author, while living a life full of fun and joy that comes from the Lord.
