Unconditional love is a universal need. Our hearts cry out for someone to love us without limits. Someone who knows us completely and loves us for who we are.
As weak and imperfect beings, we often seek love in harmful ways and feel desperate to find true acceptance.
Many of us doubt that anyone can truly love us because we are aware of our own sinful choices and tendencies toward selfishness. We think that if others really knew about us, we would be rejected. Since God is omniscient, we may think that God cannot love us. So many people start the journey to earn or achieve that love.
We often believe the lie that if we do enough good deeds and work hard enough, God might like us at least a little. Or we decide that God’s love is impossible, and we spend our lives avoiding God or being self-indulgent, thinking that the joy we can find in this life is all we need.
Too often myself, I fell into the trap of believing I could try hard enough to earn God’s love. Or maybe you thought you were somehow better just because you seemed better than you. All the while, God knows exactly how sinful I am and loves me anyway.
Our perfect Heavenly Father loves us with an eternal and unconditional love, and he continually communicates this to all who will listen. God calls all who believe and receive His love His beloved children. God shows His love for us in countless ways.
God showed His love by creating us in His image
From the moment God took the dust and created Adam, He poured out His love for humanity and sought a relationship with humanity. The first chapter of the Bible records, “So God created man in his own image, in the likeness of God, male and female…God saw everything that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:27, 31a NIV).
God formed humanity in His image and desired a connection with us. How much does God need to love us so that we can become like Him?
God has shown His love by giving us this wonderful earth to live on and rule over.
God lovingly created this beautiful Earth and gave it to humanity to govern. He gave all seed-bearing plants to Adam as food. He brought all the wonderful creatures to Adam and gave them names. Finally, God did not want man to be alone, so he created a woman from Adam’s own flesh and gave her to him as a helper and companion. In love, God has provided countless miracles of creation for us to enjoy.
God showed us His love by giving us agency.
God loves us enough to give us free will. True love is a choice. God may have created us to automatically obey Him. Instead, God allowed Adam and Eve to face the temptation to rebel and disobey, knowing that they would sin, but hoping that humanity would choose to seek the Creator.
God showed His love by recording His words in the Bible
What a miracle that Almighty God, the Creator of the universe, spoke through humans and recorded His words and thoughts for us. We don’t have to worry about what God thinks of us. We can read God’s unchanging holy Word for ourselves.
His abiding love is declared throughout the Bible:
“Then the Lord came down…and he passed before Moses and proclaimed, ‘Lord, Lord, merciful and gracious God, rich in wrath, abounding in love and faithfulness, remaining in love to the thousands, and forgiving wickedness and rebellion and sin’” (Exodus 34:5-7a NIV).
“Lord, remember your great mercies and love, for they are of old” (Psalm 25:6 NIV).
“The sufferings of the wicked are many, but the unfailing love of the Lord embraces those who trust in him” (Psalm 32:10 NIV).
“Lord, your love reaches unto the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches unto the heavens…How precious, O God, is your abiding love, for in the shadow of your wings men take refuge” (Psalm 36:5, 7 NIV).
“Lord, you are forgiving and good, and full of love to all who call upon you…But, Lord, you are a merciful and merciful God, slow to anger and full of love and faithfulness” (Psalm 86:5, 15 NIV).
“The Lord appeared to us in the past and said, “With an everlasting love I have loved you, and with an unfailing gentleness I have drawn you” (Jeremiah 31:3 NIV).
“Because of the Lord’s great love we will never perish. His mercy never fails; it is renewed every morning. Great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV).
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NIV).
God showed love through the life of Jesus Christ
While on earth, Jesus showed compassion, love, and grace to all people. Jesus healed all those who came to Him in faith. Kindness and grace poured out from him. When one of his disciples, Philip, asked to see the Father, Jesus answered, “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9 ESV). Jesus embodies the love and mercy of God the Father.
The Bible reveals that Jesus was “a brightness of the glory of God and a true imprint of the divine nature” (Hebrews 1:3 ESV).
God showed His love by offering Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice
What better way could God demonstrate his love for us than by offering his only begotten Son as a sacrifice for our sins? Imagine seeing the perfect person you love suffer incredible pain because of sinful, weak, and evil people. That incomprehensible love is what God gives us.
The Bible says, “This is how God demonstrated his love among us. He sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. This is love, not that we loved him, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10 NIV). Jesus was God incarnate and demonstrated His love. His death on the cross was the greatest act of love.
When Jesus rose from the dead, God showed his love by conquering death.
Not only did Jesus die to pay the price for our sins, but in doing so He also conquered death for all who trust in Him. God loves us and offers us eternal life, made possible through Jesus. God gives us eternity free from sin, death, and sorrow. God promises, “He that believeth in his Son hath everlasting life…” (John 3:36 NIV).
God shows His love by wanting a relationship with us.
God seeks our hearts, not just blind obedience. He wants our love. His revelation to Jesus’ beloved disciple John includes these words of love: “Here am I, standing at the door and knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20 NIV). God has given us life and wants to interact with us every day.
God shows His love by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell within us.
Because God longs for close and intimate relationships, He sends His Holy Spirit to live within each believer. How do we figure that out? The eternal Spirit of God lives within each person who trusts in Jesus Christ. Paul, the author of the New Testament, taught, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV).
Our Father loves us so much that He desires complete intimacy with us so that we may become one with Him. God’s Spirit is intertwined with our spirit.
God shows us His love by giving us the gift of prayer.
When we love someone, we long to communicate with them. We want to talk for hours, sharing our heart’s desires. God commands us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV). These instructions are not meant to give us rules to follow, but because God loves us and desires a close relationship with us. God longs to hear our prayers and is never tired of His children. God never ignores or cancels our prayers, but rather He hears and answers our voices.
God showed His love by promising that Jesus would return for all believers.
Jesus not only demonstrated His love by being born as a human, but He also promised to come again for all who believe in Him. God will return to right every wrong and establish a new heaven and a new earth. How much does God love us to give us such a wonderful future?
The Bible promises, “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many, and He will appear a second time, not to take sins, but to bring salvation to those who look forward to Him” (Hebrews 9:28 NIV).
God shows His love by wanting to spend eternity with us.
Our Father loves us so much that He wants to spend eternity with us. How do we imagine eternity? Endless love. Endless joy. All who trust in Christ will live with Him forever. Jesus is preparing a place for us to spend eternity together. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe me also. There are many rooms in my Father’s house. If it were not so, I would have said that I am going there to prepare a place for you. I will come back and take you with me, and you will be where I am” (John 14:1-3 NIV).
God’s love for us is unconditional
God loves me when I am selfish and only want to take care of myself. God loves me when I complain and complain in my incredibly blessed life. God’s love is steadfast when I ignore those He has commanded me to love. God forgives even my unforgivable behavior when I don’t forgive. It’s true, unconditional love, and it’s mine and it’s yours because of Jesus Christ, who took the blame for our sins and offered us righteousness in our place. When the Father looks at us, He sees us clothed in the righteousness of His beloved Son. God loves us perfectly and that love will never change.
Photo credit: © Pexels/Leah Kelley
Susan Aiken is a writer, wife, mother, and follower of Jesus. She is originally from Oklahoma but has lived in Nebraska for many years. In addition to writing, she has a passion for special needs and prayer ministry. She enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and photographing nature. She loves learning and teaching Bible truth. She believes that life is a journey and we are all in different places. To her, Jesus is everything and everything is grace. Visit her at susanaken53.wordpress.com or on Facebook.
