“Love never fails…” I Corinthians 13:8
God’s love is the measure of true love. The love we experience in the world around us is not always a reflection of God’s love; it’s often an imperfect love that is distorted by issues such as, insecurity, intimidation, selfishness, control, shame, and guilt. If we try to understand God’s true love by comparison to the imperfections of human relationships, we’ll get a wrong idea about God, and the contorted picture we have of Him will negatively affect our relationship with Him.
Worldly love often has conditions to it. If you don’t give it what it wants, then it may not want you. If you show a weakness, it might pull away from you. If you make a wrong choice, it might stop loving you. We have to be careful that we don’t measure our self-worth by the acceptance or rejection of human relationships. God’s love isn’t conditional, which reflects how valuable we are to Him.
Furthermore, if you have ever been physically, verbally or sexually abused by a loved one, than you have experienced a terrible distortion of what love is. You understand conditional love that is based on your concession to their selfish desires and your ability to perform their will. God doesn’t put those conditions on you in order to be wanted by Him or to have His attention. True love doesn’t take advantage, force, manipulate, dominate, or control to get what it wants. God’s love doesn’t threaten the relationship if we don’t satisfy Him.
Whether we respond to God’s love or not, He loves us. God’s love is based on who He is, not on what we do. God loved us before we were born. He considered us worth fighting for, even dying for. God loved us while we were marred with imperfections and sin. If we ever turn away from God, His love waits for us to return. If there is an addiction that keeps pulling us back into its grip, God’s love holds onto us until we’re free. God’s love believes in us to become the people He created us to be, no matter how long it takes. God’s love is true, and it is unconditional.
If a person’s perception of love has become messed up by the world, it often shows up in thoughts, conversation, behavior, character, or attitude. A misconstrued idea of love will affect relationships with other people and with God. The good news is that God can reprogram us by renewing our minds. God can and will restore us to know His true love.
Application: Read I Corinthians 13:4-8 in the Amplified version. Compare this description of love with the love you’ve known on earth. Believe that God completely and perfectly loves you.