Shania Baldwin

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 (NIV)

Have you ever wondered why God would voluntarily endure humiliation, disrespect, and abuse until death on the cross at the hands of the very creation He was going to redeem? Knowing that He would encounter this, He decided to sacrifice His best and most loved on the account of restoring us to His original design that man chose to ignore. What we destroyed in sin, He came to re-establish through love without hesitation.

In this season, as we reflect on all Christ did on the cross, we must meditate on His motivation to do so. We always hear that God loves us but do we really understand the extent to which this is true?

Think about how difficult it is for humans to share their favorite meal with someone. Even if it is someone we claim to love, there is a slight hesitation. How is it that we, the very vessels of the Spirit of God, struggle to share our food while God didn’t even think twice about giving His life for us even while we ignored, denied, and rejected Him? That shows just how much God loves us.

God’s unconditional and unwavering love for us caused Him to go to the cross to give us the option to spend eternity with Him. Acknowledging what God did for us on the cross without understanding why He did it can cause us to minimize the grace, favor, and identity we have in Him. So while we thank God for our salvation through grace, the Bible implores us to discover the love and heart of God for us as His children. This is why we love God, understanding that everything He did for us was first because He loves us.

Reflection: How is our understanding of God’s love reflected in our devotion to Him?