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God's unconditional love
The Beatles song 'Can't Buy Me Love' contained the lines: 'I'll buy you a diamond ring my friend if that makes you happy, I'll give you anything if you can feel good I don't worry too much about money because money can't buy me love».
How true that is, money cannot buy us love. While it can enable us to do a multitude of things, it lacks the ability to acquire what really matters in life. After all, money can buy a bed, but not the sleep we so desperately need. Medicine is for sale, but true health remains unaffected. Makeup can transform the way we look, but true beauty comes from within and can't be bought.
God's love for us is not something that our performance can buy. He loves us unconditionally because in his inmost being God is love: «God is love; and whoever abides in love abides in God and God in him" (1. John 4,16). We can depend on the love God has for us.
How do we know? “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1. John 4,9-10). Why can we rely on it? Because "his grace endures forever" (Psalm 107,1 New Life Bible).
The love of God is revealed in countless ways in our lives. He cares for us, guides us, gives comfort and gives us strength in challenging times. His love is at the heart of our connection with him and our relationships with others. It is the supporting element on which our faith and our hope are based.
Knowing and relying on the love that God has for us carries with it a responsibility: "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we should also love each other" (1. John 4,11). We are to love one another, not out of duty or compulsion; we can't buy each other love. We love in response to the love God has shown us: "We love because he first loved us" (1. John 4,19). John goes even further: “Anyone who claims to love God but hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love his brother and sister, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he gave us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister" (1. John 4,20-21).
It is important to realize that our ability to give and receive love depends on our relationship with God. The more we connect with him and experience his love, the better we can pass it on to others. Therefore, it is crucial to deepen our relationship with him and to let his love into our lives more and more.
It's true, we can't buy love! Jesus encouraged us to give love as a gift: "This is my commandment: Love one another" (John 15,17). Why? We can help other people experience God's love by serving their needs, listening to them, and supporting them in our prayers. The love we show one another reflects God's love for us. It brings us together and strengthens our relationships, our communities and our churches. It helps us to understand, support and encourage one another. Love makes the world around us a better place because it has the power to touch hearts, transform lives, and bring healing. As we take God's love out into the world, we become His ambassadors and help build His kingdom on earth.
by Barry Robinson
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