God Has Proved His Love for Us

Romans 5:8

Every person wants to hear the words, “I love you.” We all want to know that we are loved and cared for by someone. But it is not simply enough to say the words.

As it has been said and even sung about, “Love is a verb.” Love is not just a thing. Love is something that is acted out and demonstrated. No wife wants a husband who merely says, “I love you” to his wife, but then lives out his days completely absorbed in his own world of work, sports, friends, etc. The words quickly become meaningless if there is no substance behind them.

Thankfully, when we speak of God loving us, we do not merely mean that God has told us He loves us, even though He certainly has done that. God has done more than said the words, “I love you.” God has demonstrated that love by what He has done and accomplished for us.

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Think about what Paul is saying here to the Romans. God does not just love you as He wants you to be or what He knows or hopes you will be some day. He loves you right now for who you are, flaws and all.

God shows or demonstrates His love for us, how? In that Christ died for us even while we were still sinners. That means, even while we were still going our own way, rebelling against Him, mocking Him, rejecting Him, God loved us so much that Christ, who is God in the flesh, came and died for us as we were still living as enemies to Him. This is an Amazing Love! It is Amazing Grace!

If you, by faith, have received this love, it should change us in two different ways. First, it should change how we love God. We should not be willing to allow our love for God to be communicated in words, but in our grateful obedience to Him. We do not obey to earn God’s love, for He gave it to us long before we ever deserved it. We obey because God has already shown His love for us and now our love for Him is demonstrated by our willing submission to Him.

Second, it should change how we love others. If God was willing to love us even as we were His enemies, then we ought to be willing to love those who are own enemies. There should be no limit or conditions for our love offered to others because of the transforming love of God for us. To be sure, this is not something that comes naturally to us. But can we really say we have received the love of God if we are not sharing that with others? 1 John 4:19

1 John 4:19 ESV

We love because he first loved us.

Here’s a couple questions for us all to consider:

In what ways is God calling you to respond to Him in loving faith and obedience?

Who is someone in your life that is difficult to love to whom you can demonstrate God’s love and kindness?