A young friend of mine and her two kids were at Dairy Queen the other night. We were having a conversation about God, relationships, love, and life in general. Conversations are different with a couple of kids mixed in.
At one point we were talking about God's love for us, despite our shortcomings and continuing willingness to sin. It's a difficult thing to understand because God absolutely hates sin. He hates it! Yet we keep right on sinning anyway. Even though we are His children.
Why does God love us so much? Why did God send His one and only Son to die for us on the cross - punishment for OUR sins. That is hard to understand.
"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." - John 15:13
The depth of God's love can be hard to figure out sometimes. How do you explain something you don't understand? Well, God was about to provide us with a perfect illustration.
My friend's daughter began to get cranky. That squirming kind of cranky where you try to appease the child but nothing seems to work. Nope. Not interested in mommy's phone anymore, nor "Grandpa's" French fries or even ice cream. One of those "I want to go home now!" kind of crankies.
Suddenly a young girl walked up to the mom and her child, and leaning in, she gave my friend's daughter a hug.
Absolute silence. Another person confronted with unconditional love and who couldn't understand it
A loving look from the girl who gave the hug. A look of disbelieve and appreciation from the cranky baby. No words were spoken at all. Just a gift of love and its acceptance.
What a beautiful expression of God's unconditional love for us! It is given despite who we are and despite what we've done. It is given freely. And why? Because God IS love. We need to quit trying to figure out why and just dive into it and accept it - like a child dives into an ice cream cone.
Amazing Love - Chris Tomlin
This Is Amazing Grace - Phil Wickham
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