“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
—1 John 4:18
God’s love can be hard to understand because it’s not like ours. We tend to love those whose character, attributes, and interests are appealing to us. But in God’s eyes, there is nothing attractive in us that makes us worthy of His affection. We are all sinners who have rebelled against Him.
Out of divine mercy and grace, our heavenly Father chooses to love us. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, He demonstrated His love to all those who would receive Him. When we trust in the Savior, we permanently become God’s beloved children: Nothing can separate us from His love, which will never end or diminish (Romans 8:38-39).
What’s more, no one is beyond the reach of God’s love. Jesus made this clear by saving people like a greedy, dishonest tax collector, a criminal on the cross next to Him, and Saul—a persecutor of His church. God’s love isn’t dispensed according to how good we’ve been. On that basis, no one could be saved.
Divine love can’t be fully comprehended by the human mind, but it can nonetheless be ours through faith in Jesus Christ. And from the moment a person receives that love, he or she will forever live under its protective canopy.
How can you show genuine love to those around you today?