Nobody Loves You Like…

The words “I love you” sometimes easily tumble out of our mouths, almost meaningless in today’s society, but they are words to be held precious when they are uttered with real meaning. Like when a parent holds a newborn close and softly whispers those words or when a child hugs a parent’s legs, looks up, and says, “I loves you, Mommy or Daddy.” How about when we’ve found the perfect match and your heart sings those very same words until they spill out and you take the step to draw that person even closer to you. Sometimes we use these words when a friend becomes so close and dear to us.

There is another being who loves us with a love that is nearly impossible to describe. It is the love of God. God has shared his desire to adopt us into his family, to make us one of his own. Just like the Prodigal son, God says come home. I allowed my only begotten Son to die that you can have eternal life.

What was unusual about God’s love…he sought us out when we were undeserving of love and not looking for his love. Our Creator offered it to us. We are his creation. He shaped us out of the dust of the ground. This Almighty being now pays attention to us who are only specks of dirt.

His love is universal, offering it to the entire world. The Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16, even though we were still steeped in our sin. Romans 5:8. The Bible also says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us…” 1 John 4:10.

It is a gift freely given. It is unearned and unmerited. Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” This is God’s view on what mankind can accomplish without him.

Hollywood and the laxness of our vocabulary has cheapened and diminished the power of words like awesome, glorious, and yes… even the word love.