A longing for the perfection of love — unfailing, unconditional, infinite love — drives us to seek beyond what anything earthly provides. The quest for love often leads us into places of pain and disappointment. Though we might find temporary and alluring counterfeits, they will ultimately leave us empty and wanting.
True love comes only from God. He fills our love vacuum to capacity, enabling us to reflect His love to others.
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
1 John 4:7-8
Even the best human effort proves tainted and inadequate in comparison.
God is Love
Only God loves in a way that continuously seeks the ultimate best for the object of His love.
We will never fully understand how far sin caused humanity to fall — at least not until we witness heaven’s full restoration. We have no comparison with which to measure the Father’s ultimate love. In the perfection of love, He sent Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for all sin and failure.
“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:7-8
We all begin life looking for others to love us in a way that meets our need. Personal brokenness renders us ineffective to love fully, however. Our efforts often result in frustration, disillusionment, and disappointment.
Unfailing Love
We are inspired when by a couple celebrating decades of married love together. For most of us, marriage is hard work! So, we applaud love that weathers the challenges and ever-changing seasons of life. But even the best earthly example of love ends.
Only God can make a claim to the perfection of love — enduring, unfailing love.
“Give thanks to the LORD; for he is good; his love endures forever.”
1 Chronicles 16:34
We often look to 1 Corinthians chapter 13 to discover the essence of love. But Romans chapter 8 makes the most triumphant declarations about the unfailing nature of God’s love.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, 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 8:38-39
Oh, what assurance! What confidence rests in the unfailing love of God — the perfection of love!
Unconditional Love
If we move even slightly from the conviction of being loved by our Abba Father, we begin to attempt to earn His love through service or sacrifice. How foolish! Since God so unconditionally loved us when we were alienated from Him, how much more now that He has adopted us as His sons and daughters? If we could do nothing to merit His love as sinners far from Him, must we now work to merit His love?
No! God loves unconditionally! He loves not because of how wonderful we are, but because of how wonderful He is!
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”
1 John 3:1
Love is too precious to be purchased, too valuable to be earned, too rare to be merited. What price could we ever place on the perfection of love?
“Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned.”
Song of Songs 8:7
We rest as humble recipients. No other posture suffices.
Infinite Love
Song writers and preachers tell of God’s unfailing and unconditional love. But, seldom, if ever, do they speak of God’s limitless infinitude.
“But you, O lord, your mercy-seat love is limitless, reaching higher than the highest heavens. Your great faithfulness is infinite, stretching over the whole earth.”
Psalm 36:5 TPT
God, and everything about Him, is limitless — beyond confines of time or space. Everything that flows from Him also comes in limitless measure. Though boundaries limit our capacity to receive, God knows no limit to His capacity to demonstrate love.
I may become too preoccupied, too tired, or even too uncaring to love well. God never suffers such deficiencies.
He loves each one with limitless capacity. God loves you and me with infinite measure. How wonderful that we don’t need to understand the perfection of love to receive it.
Perfection of Love
The enemy’s greatest attacks attempt to cause us to see God as anything but perfectly loving. If he succeeds in his deception, fear grips our hearts and plagues our minds.
We all fight this battle both to receive and respond to God’s love.
“The Spirit your received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.'”
Romans 8:15
The perfection of love flows from our Abba, Father. “Abba” refers to the most intimate name given for a father, similar to Dad. “Father” is more of a formal term. God loves us deeply and intimately.
Because we are the objects of such lavish love, satan hates us even more. He is powerless to stop God’s love, so he tries to convince us that we are still slaves, alienated from God’s love. Nothing could be further from the truth! We never need to fear again. God adopted us into His family. We are loved and secure.
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
1 John 4:18
May we each take a moment to appreciate and thank God for His unfailing, unconditional, infinite love.
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