The Love of God

Ladies, have you asked your hubbies this question: What attracts you to me in the beginning? What makes you want to come after me or marry me? Well, I have and I liked to ask my hubby this question even though I have heard his answer many times. The truth is we want to be flattered. We want to relish the good old dating days when we felt so loved as our hubbies wooed us. Well, many couples after being married for years and especially after the kids come tend to neglect the love relationship between them.

But the love between husbands and wives is not my main point here. My main point is about the love of God. Yet the love between husbands and wives is a very good illustration of Christ's love for us. Ephesians 5:25 says 'Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.' We are the church and Christ is our bridegroom.

Well, whenever I asked Heng this question, I would always get an answer that I was not satisfied with. I would expect him to say he was attracted to me because I was loveable, cute, kind, caring etc. Yet he would always say 'I love you because you are you, not because of your qualities or what you do.' I want to be loved because of my qualities or more so to stroke my ego, to be flattered.

But then I realised that God's love for us is like that. It is an unconditional love that is so persistent even when we are unloveable or feel worthless. The truth is God loved us not because of our qualities or what we do but simply because we are His children and we are made in His image. Christ loved us because we are His bride and He already gave His life for us at the cross. We are always beautiful and spotless in His eyes because God sees us through the blood of His Son. Jesus loves us not because we are beautiful. Yet because Jesus loves us, we become beautiful. We become of great worth because Christ died for us.

Such love makes one feel very secure. I would certainly rather be loved just as I am, not because of my qualities or what I do. In the latter case I would be insecure because there are many times when I feel unloveable or when I throw tantrums or when I fail. Yet during such times, when I still feel the love of God telling me 'You are still the apple of My eye. You are so special and precious to me. I still love you despite what you do', my heart melts and I run to God's loving arms. That is grace.

At the end of the day, I realised it was never about me. It was always about God's goodness and His love for us. We can never take the initiative to love God because it was God who reached out to us when we were yet sinners. Bible says 'We loved because He first loved us.' You know, when you love someone, you cannot take your eyes off that person. You will always be attentive to their needs even when they don't say it. You will notice their moods change even when they try to hide it. You will be happy to see them happy. You will feel sad when they are sad.

That's what Jesus is like. He loved us too much to take His eyes off us and even though we think He does not care that our boat is sinking, He is still working behind the scene to deliver us.  In Zechariah 2:8, it is written "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.'" You may think that you are bullied by the enemy, attacked by your adversaries and God does not seem to care. But the truth is: God will not let the enemy go scot-free because he who touches you touches the apple of His eye. God will make the enemy pay for what damage he has done to you. Simply because we are His children and God will not allow His beloved to be bullied. Oh how blessed we are to be God's children!