Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (1 Jn. 3:18 NIV)
I talk with Christians on a regular basis about whether or not God loves them. Unfortunately, it seems that for many believers, God must continue to prove His love to them. If something difficult happens in their life, God’s love is immediately brought into question. The same happens if they don’t get the job, house, spouse, health, salary, and any other circumstance they want, when they want it. Let’s remind ourselves today of a few truths on this issue.
First of all, if the cross of Jesus Christ is not sufficient proof of God’s love for us, no changed circumstance will be. “This is how we [even] know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” (1 Jn. 3:16). Add to this the promise of eternal happiness in a future paradise “that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you.” (1 Pet. 1:4). Can we honestly tell God, that even if He never did another thing for us, we would still believe in His love for us?
Secondly, it is not God’s love for us that still needs to be proved, but rather our love for God. God has proven His love for us beyond doubt. Have we likewise proven our love for Him? Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will obey what I command.” (Jn. 14:15). As Christians, rather than evaluating how much we think God is presently loving us, we should be evaluating how much we are obeying Him. The primary purpose of our life on this planet is to have an opportunity to demonstrate our love for, and faith in, a God we cannot see. It is not God’s love that is on trial right now brothers and sisters, but ours. What will we do today to prove it?