This is the greatest love story ever written
This world has distorted the definition of love. We see accepted behaviors in other people’s lives, if not in our homes, then on social media. Each day, we see couples practicing toxic behaviors that make us think it’s okay to be humiliated or belittled.
Let’s return to the drawing board and renew our definition of love. This is what the Bible says true love looks like:
Love does not cheat
God honors a relationship that respects each other. We see it through God’s character.
In the Bible, God is described as jealous because he doesn’t want us to worship, compare, or prioritize something else before him. The Word says God shows steadfast love to those who love him.
“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”
Deuteronomy 7:9
Love doesn’t belittle you
God doesn’t push us away when we’ve made mistakes. He doesn’t remind us of our past; instead, he embraces us in the middle of the mess. That’s the magnitude of his love. While we were still sinners, unworthy of being loved, Jesus Christ died for us, so we don’t have to remain stuck.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
Love is not temporarily
Love does not choose when to love you because true love remains forever.
Isaiah 54:10 says, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”
Love is in actions
A person can possess all the knowledge and faith in the word, be a leader in church, and give donations to those in need, but doesn’t have love, then it’s all for nothing.
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
1 Corinthians 1:1-3
Allow those verses to be a reminder of what Love is. If you’ve allowed yourself to think Love is abuse or neglect, let the truth set you free.
“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” (1 John 4:15-16)
The greatest love story ever written
God’s love for us is the greatest love story. While people, we once loved may abandon us, God will remain faithful; He will never forsake us.
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:37-39
We are able to accept God’s love when we accept Jesus Christ as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
1 John 4 15-16 says, “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.”
His Word also says that God loves us so much, despite our flaws, that he sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to live as one of us. We betrayed him, but he decided we were still worth saving.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Even in our pain…
In the midst of our pain, suffering, and heartbreak, God accepts, cleans, and makes us whole through his love. Even when we can’t find it in ourselves to love ourselves, God says we were in his thoughts before anyone ever knew we existed. Our mistakes don’t surprise him.
“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!”
Psalm 139:16-17
Now, when we find ourselves hurt by the scars of sin. We can rely on God. He will be right there with us, not just to listen, but he provides what we need.
Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
God sees us as somebody.
1 John 4:10 says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
That’s the greatest love story ever written. When our marriage and relationships are not satisfying the void we have inside, we can lean on God, the only true love.
Prayer for Salvation
“Lord Jesus, Son of God, I confess that I’m a sinner and need your forgiveness. I invite you into my life; I accept that you are Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. You died for my sins and resurrected on the third day. Because of that, today I am made new. I know in my heart that you are alive and your Spirit now lives in me. I ask you to write my name in the book of life and help me live a holy and abundant life. In the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”