God loves you – unconditionally and without fail
By Sheryl Boldt
Have you ever been afraid someone you love would stop loving you? Maybe you’re struggling with insecurity. Perhaps you haven’t been very loving yourself. Or maybe it’s been a long time since you’ve been your “best self,” and you’re afraid someone you care about is going to give up on you.
This week’s verse speaks of the type of love we all crave – the “love [that] never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:8 ESV). Several translations say, “Love never fails.”
Raise your hand, or better yet, email me if you can promise to love any person in your life perfectly, all the time, no matter what. (I’m not expecting a lot of emails.)
Most of us aim never to fail when it comes to loving people we care about. We seek to love God perfectly, yet we fail here also. We prove it each time we dishonor Him with one of our poor choices.
Isn’t it good to know God’s love for us never fails, no matter what we do? His love for us remains forever strong. While He doesn’t love all our choices, He does love us – unconditionally and without fail.
May we not take our heavenly Father’s love for granted. Rather, as we become more and more aware of God’s love for us and mature in our love for Him, may we become better at loving those around us/
Loving others, especially when they don’t “deserve” our affection, is more important than we realize. When we model God’s love, our relationships thrive. When we refrain from behaving in unloving, spiteful ways to those who annoy us, mistreat us and don’t love us back, we show the world what real love looks like. This type of love begins with understanding God’s love for us, recognizing God’s love for others and purposing to love others with the love He puts in our hearts.
How can you exhibit this kind of love toward others?
My husband, Bert, often demonstrates this type of love toward me. After we fight, he’ll come to me – even when I’m still angry – and hold me. Each time he does, I experience the kind of love I crave most at that moment – a love that whispers, “I will never stop loving you.”
Sheryl H. Boldt writes fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. Her devotions appear in 33+ newspapers. She is also the author of the blog, www.TodayCanBeDifferent.net. Connect with her at [email protected].
