Unrequited Love - Daily Thoughts about God

“This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:9-10

If I asked you to define love, what would you say? Some people may say that love is a strong feeling of affection toward another person. Other people may say that love is caring for another person. Alternatively, some people may say that love is difficult to define.

In today’s ever-changing perplexed world, accurately defining love is challenging, especially when we try to comprehend the mystery and magnitude of God’s love for every human being.

Scripturally, God frequently defines his love as a verb — an unrequited action toward humanity individually and collectively. He emphasizes that he reveals His love for us by sending his Son into the world to reconcile us to himself (John 3:16). John clearly and unambiguously asserts that, despite our lack of love for God, he, reflecting the essence of his character, demonstrated unrequited love for us by sending Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

The mystery, miracle, and majesty of God’s love is unfathomable to a world that prefers to define love through the unreliable chameleon influence of cultural trends and acceptance.

Ultimately, God’s love is undefinable, unfathomable, unshakable, and unmatchable. Renowned evangelist, the late Billy Graham, once stated, “He knows exactly what we are and loves us anyway.”

Do we fully realize and reflect the influence of God’s love in our lives? Love is the divine essence of God’s character and we should daily seek to fully realize his unrequited love and reflect it to those around us.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that your often unrequited and always unmerited love, in sending Jesus, saves me. Equip me with understanding and discernment to comprehend the depth of your love, and empower me to reciprocate and reflect your love to those within my sphere of influence. Amen.

By Allan Mitchell
Used by Permission