For God So Loved The WorldEsimerkki

It’s easy to love the lovable: girlfriends, grandmas, well-behaved children. Others are not so easily loved. You probably don’t need to be prompted to immediately think of examples of both, but consider it for a moment: whom in your life is easy to love? Whom in your life do you struggle to love?

It’s not hard to identify why some people are easier to love than others. Personal compatibility often creates harmony, while differences can create conflict. And certain traits—hospitality, generosity, patience, kindness—are more conducive to “loving” relationships than others, such as negativity, laziness, and a lack of charity.

A difficult reality to accept about ourselves is that—from God’s perspective—we are the latter. Yes, we are worthy to be loved, but our value is based on our status as image-bearers of God, not on our natural charm and charisma! God loved us not when we were righteous and mighty saints, but when we were “powerless” and “ungodly” sinners (Romans 5:6-8)!

This feels like a hard truth at first, but it should comfort us. If God’s love for us were contingent upon who we are, how we act, and what we do for others, we all would be without hope. But because His love for us is founded on an unshakeable reality—that we are made in His image—we can rest in the confidence that our hope is assured.

The implications of this fact—that God loved us while we were living in offense against Him—also provide us with a model to emulate in our disposition toward others. Instead of waiting on others for an apology, a behavioral change, or an epiphany that may never come, we should lead with love. We must be like Jesus and offer grace where no favor is merited, extend forgiveness in the face of obstinance, and show love where none has been earned.

Today, thank God for those in your life who are “easy” to love. Ask Him to help you to show love to those in your life whom you struggle to love.