In review of 1 John 4:9-10 it says, “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love … he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
Bottom Line:
God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. In this act we see what real love is, not in our love for God but rather in his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.
What this means to me:
God showed his love for me by sending his only Son into the world so that I could have eternal life through him. This is what real love is, not in my love for God but rather in his love for me. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which my sins were forgiven.
There is much in life that changes; relationships, jobs, fame. One minute I can be a hero; the next minute I’m a zero. What I’m learning is that the only thing in the entire universe that never change is God’s love.
Knowing that God will still love me, no matter what happens in my life; even in my failures, brokenness, and sin, provides me with a rock solid foundation for my life.
Consider the small word “so” that goes before “loved” in the Bible’s most famous verse: John 3:16. The verse says, “God so loved the world …”
What I’m learning is that God loves me with an extravagant, lavish love that can never be taken away. It’s a love that is beyond comprehension. He loves me on my good days and on my bad ones as well.
God doesn’t just want me to just recognize this lavish love intellectually. He wants me to recognize it emotionally. Love is God’s nature. God created the universe, and everything in it, for no other reason other than he could love it. And God created me so he could love me as well.
In fact, in Jesus, God shows us what real love, his love, looks like: “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love … he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:9-10 NLT, second edition).
God shows how much he loves me. He loved me so much it hurt as He sacrificed his Son. When Jesus died for me, God was saying he loved me so much he’d rather die than live without me.
And the Bible says that’s what real love; the kind of love that you can build your life upon looks like. Real love makes sacrifices. Real love endures to the end. Real love gives all.
This is the kind of love only God has for me. And he’s waiting with open arms each day to show me.
It’s really easy to know and understand that God loves me when things are going well. There is however a tendency to wonder about his love when things aren’t going so well. In my own life, I have seen instance after instance where God has loved and cared for me when I was in trouble. So if I ever get a twinge of doubt, I only need to think of these times.
God’s self-sacrificing demonstrated in Jesus gives me the model I should follow for how I handle life. I too should practice a real love for others that demonstrates itself in sacrifice and service. I need to practice a real love that endures to the end regardless (in other words I should not give up on someone.) A real love gives all I have, as my life was created by God for his purposes and to partner with him in caring and loving others.
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