A Simple Message

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10).

What is love? How do we know when we're loved? That's a question that swirls around the holiday we celebrated just yesterday. We take so many cues from the world around us, and we wait for someone else to validate our existence. We "know" we're loved if someone else tells us so, and if they don't, then we can begin to believe we're not.

Two situations that entered my life recently. One, a friend who lost a job because of a mistake he had made. He knew he had done it; in fact, he had made the same mistake before and had not lost his job, but returning to the same mistake this time cost him his livelihood. He feels abandoned, lost and without an identity. He feels unloved.

Another situation comes from a broken family that seems intent on tearing itself apart. Members thrive not on love or care for each other, but on "biting and devouring" one another (cf. Galatians 5:15). It's unhealthy and leaves each person believing that they are unloved, uncared for, and unwanted. Brokenness abounds because each is looking to the other for something they will never find: cues and assurances that they are loved.

What is love? It's not a feeling, and it's not something we are ever going to fully get from the world around us. Love is not something we do, or even something we conjure up. Love is something given to us. Love is not proven in our ability to love God; let's be honest, some days I feel like it and some days I don't. Love is not found in the affirmation of others—because some days they will affirm us and many days they will not. Love is found in the rock-solid attitude and inclination of God toward us. God loved us so much that he sent his son, Jesus, to bring us back to himself. Jesus gave his life to prove God's love toward us. God loves us so much there isn't anything he wouldn't give to rescue us; the cross is the ultimate symbol of love.

We wait and hope and wonder and pray for someone to love us. Here's the good news: someone already does! His name is Jesus, and he is the evidence of God's love toward us. There is nothing you can do to make God love you more, and there is nothing you can do to make God love you more. God loves you. He loves you. Bask in the amazing truth of that statement. He loves you and he always will. No matter how far you roam, no matter how much you break his heart, God loves you. That is the message of the Bible from the Table of Contents to the maps: God loves you.

Take it in and believe it. You are the beloved child of God. That is the simplest and most profound message of all.