He Loves You

"God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

The concept of love has been so used, abused, and misused today that you can hide almost anything behind it. That's because most people are looking for love in all the wrong places. They know they need it; they know they've got to have it. But where to find it and how to know if it's authentic is another questions.

If you feel like that, I have good news for you: God is love! I know you've heard that before, but I hope that little phrase will take on some knew meaning for you today. Let me start with a definition: The love of God is His joyful self-determination to reflect the goodness of His will and glory by meeting our needs.

The Bible is absolutely clear on this: there is no definition of love that means anything unless it is rooted in God. No matter how you define love, if it doesn't begin with God, it is flawed. It will either be incomplete or imbalanced, but either way it will be incorrect because God's character defines love.

Love is not just saying words. That's rap. True love is always expressed. God expressed His love in creation. You can look around you and see proof of God's love. But His greatest demonstration of love is in redemption - Jesus Christ hanging on the cross for all to see.

Once you see that, you see why true love is willing to pay a price for the one loved. It does not ask, "What am I going to get out of this" but, "What am I going to put into this so that the one I love can get something out of it?" God's love is not tied to the worth of the person being loved. That's good news because the only thing you and I are worthy of is judgement!

But don't misunderstand. The fact that God's love is unconditional doesn't make it weak and accepting of everything. Here's a major difference between divine love and what so often passes for love. Much of what people call love is just mush. God's love always makes judgement calls.

If you have experienced God's love, you've got the real thing. Don't settle for a weak imitation.

By Tony Evans, taken from "Time to Get Serious"

Bible Reading Guide:

Beginning to End: Psalm 26-31
Old and New Testaments Together: Neh. 10-11 & Acts 4:1-22
Historical: Amos 1-5
Chronological: Proverbs 27-29
Blended: Jeremiah 34-36 & Matthew 26:51-75

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible