Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8, NIV)
Have you ever heard, “I will love you if …” expressed either in words or by someone’s actions? In either case, you got the message. Love for you was based on conditions. If you met the conditions, you would receive love. If you failed, you weren’t worthy of love.
The world operates on performance-based love. And unfortunately, that is how most of us unwittingly live. But God offers us a different way to experience love and to share the love.
“God loves me if…”
What do you believe about God’s love for you? Do you feel like God loves you more when you are good and less when you are disobedient? The truth is, we do not deserve God’s love. There is nothing we can do to earn it. It is freely given to us because that is God’s very nature. We are beneficiaries of God’s love because of Christ’s death for us on the cross.
The apostle Paul explains, “Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:38). Is there anything that “nothing” does not encompass? Consider Jesus’ parable of the Lost Son (see Luke 15:11-32). This boy squandered his inheritance in reckless living. Yes, his father was disappointed and heartbroken by his son’s choices, but he never stopped loving his son and he welcomed him home with open arms.
“You can always give without loving, but you can never love without giving.” —Amy Carmichael
God loves you unconditionally and will do so forever. However, unconditional love should not be equated with unconditional acceptance of behaviors. God loves each and every sinner but hates our sins. Hebrews 12 tells us that God will discipline us in love as a Father disciplines his child.
“I love me if…”
How do you feel about yourself? Do you struggle with self-condemnation when you do not live up to your own expectations and standards? If you have accepted the pardon for your sins that Jesus purchased for you on the cross, “there is now no condemnation for (you) those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1, NIV). God wants you to hate your sin—not condone it. But he does not want you to live a life of self-condemnation. Confess your sin to God, repent of it, and then ask the Holy Spirit to help you see yourself as the forgiven, loved child you now are in Christ.
“I love you if…”
Do you make others feel like they need to perform in order to receive your love? You were created in the image of God and God is love (1 John 4:16). He wants you to be a vessel through whom he can love others around you. That is only possible to the degree that the Holy Spirit radiates the love of Jesus through you.
Ephesians 5:1–2 tells us, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us” (NKJV).
You are to be Christ’s mouth, hands, and feet so others can see Jesus in you and feel his love through you. That is God’s desire for you. “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you” (1 Thessalonians 3:12, NIV).