Searching for Extravagant Love? Look to God
Searching for extravagant love?
Many of you know my story. As a little girl, my father was absent from my life for a few years. And his absence caused me to wonder, Am I lovable?
To further confuse my young heart, my dad came back into my life as a self-proclaimed atheist.
Then I questioned, Is there a God? And, does God love me?
At 16, I heard the gospel. Jesus Christ, sent by His Father, died on a cross for me and loved me completely. The love I craved. I became a daughter of the Most High God.
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” 1 John 3:1a (ESV)
You see, I was looking for extravagant love, I just didn’t know it. So let’s discuss how God loves us extravagantly.
Extravagant Love in God
(1.) God IS love.
Love is not only something God does, but also who He is. God loved us so much, He gave His only Son to give us eternal life.
Love is not only something God does, but also who He is. God loved us so much, He gave His only Son to give us eternal life. Click To Tweet“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (ESV)
May we never get over how much God loved the world—you and me—and the great sacrifice He made to show His love.
(2.) Extravagant love gives all.
Searching for extravagant love? It’s found at Calvary’s cross, purchased for us by the blood of Jesus.
Love laid down His life for me and for you. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 (ESV)
All is NOT fair in love. If fairness counted in love, Jesus Christ suffered and died for nothing. But that’s how much He loves us!
Searching for extravagant love? It’s found at Calvary’s cross, purchased for us by the blood of Jesus. God loves us extravagantly. Click To Tweet
God’s Love
(3.) We can’t escape God’s love.
God sent Jesus for every person from all walks of life. No one is beyond His reach or His love.
There’s no place God’s love can’t find us. Instead God pursues us, loves us, and chooses us as His own.
The love of God can never be lost, it can only be found. May we never lose our sense of wonder over His eternal love!
We are loved. Think about how much God loves you with a sunup to sundown, 24/7 kind of love.
(4.) God’s Love Never Fails.
With people, love sometimes has both starting and ending points. But God’s love had a place to start but not a place to end. His is a never-ending love.
And God’s love is past, present, and future tense. He loved us while knitting us in the womb, He loves us with every breath we take, and He will love us tomorrow and the next day and the next. Hallelujah!
Because when the heavenly Father created us, He began writing our story as part of His-story. His love and goodness are written on every page.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Jeremiah 31:3b (ESV)
God's love is past, present, and future tense. He loved us while knitting us in the womb, He loves us with every breath we take, and He will love us tomorrow and the next day and the next. Hallelujah! Click To TweetExtravagant Love And Truth
(5.) God loves us with and in truth.
Not only is the Lord love, He is also Truth. (John 14:6)
What people made fake about love, God made true. The fake forms of love people created never make God’s love less true. Instead, we are loved the way He says we are loved. Unconditionally and fully…by Him.
So we consider how God loved us first and when we don’t love ourselves, He does.
Remind your heart: I’m not sinless but saved, not perfect but forgiven, not rejected but chosen, and not unloved but cherished.
(6.) We live loved.
When we know God loves us, we live differently.
We choose to live loved by the Savior and walk in freedom. Then we won’t waste another minute believing something about love God didn’t say.
See how Galatians 2:20 describes one aspect of our life in Christ:
”I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” (ESV)
Are you living loved by the Savior?
In what ways do you need reminding of God’s extravagant love?
Featured photos courtesy of Friday’s Forever on YouTube.
Last week’s post, 10 Amazing Benefits When We’re on Team Jesus.
Sometimes I participate in these link-ups:
Tell His Story/Let’s Have Coffee/Embracing the Unexpected (Grace & Truth).
© 2024 by Karen Friday, All rights reserved
Yes, Karen, each day I feel God’s tremendous, everlasting love for me, for us, even when times get tough and uncertain. God will love us always, and will never abandon us. Such comfort in that knowledge!
Blessings!
Martha, knowing we can’t escape God, He sees us, and we can’t run from His love, is the most comforting knowledge to hold near and dear to our heart. God bless!
Praise God for His amazing love! Thank you, Karen, this was a great post. Judy
Thank you, Judy. We choose to live loved by the Savior and walk in freedom. Then we won’t waste another minute believing something about love God didn’t say.
We can’t imagine this world without His love. Thanks, Karen. God bless!
Not at all, the love of God reminds us who we are in Christ and offers us the best love available on the planet-God’s love. God bless, Nancy!
Amen. God is love. I am thankful for His love and the opportunities to show His love to others. 🙂
The Lord is our example in life and love and all things. God bless!
So good. I often share your story with my daughter when she worries about certain of her family members who don’t seem to follow Jesus, how our prayers are heard and might take years to come to fruition, but our faithfulness truly can help. Thak you for sharing about God’s vast love!
Oh, I’m so thankful to hear that you have shared my story with your daughter. We can faithfully pray, asking the Lord to open their eyes to His love. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” 1 John 3:1a (ESV) A thousand Hallelujahs!
Karen, thank you for this powerful message! God’s love is so deep and wide and pure. It is not compromised by the counterfeit love/lust of the world. Thank you for helping us anchor our identity in God’s love, through His Word and His Son. Best news ever! God bless you and your family with His overflowing love!
Melissa, I like your use of the word, anchor. It’s a beautiful imagery to be anchord to the love of God, that’s where we find our true identity. We are loved, chosen, forgiven and free!
One of humanity’s deepest quests is to find our identity; we want to know who we are! It is often tempting to search for definition and meaning in a world that offers a multitude of labels. But when we run after validation in temporary sources, hoping they will define us, we find only fleeting satisfaction.
In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul describes an eternal identity that Christ gives us: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus took upon Himself the weight of all sins, absorbing their punishment, without sinning Himself. He did this so that we could be reconciled to God, with a new identity defined by Christ’s righteousness, not ours and not this world’s. Christ sacrificially offered us a new identity and a new purpose.
Our desire for identity can only find fulfillment in Christ. We are the recipients of His righteousness. And in Him, our identity is eternally secure.
Our true identity lies in Christ alone. He loved us when He created us and He loved us so much, He died to give us eternal life and pay for our sins! “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 (ESV)
His love is almost incomprehensible. I pray to be able to love like Him. Thank you Karen.
It is a love so high and deep and wide, it’s beyond what we can wrap our head around. “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Jeremiah 31:3b (ESV)
Karen, Thank you for sharing your wisdom on God’s love with our Grace & Truth community! I will proudly feature it on my Pinterest board for Grace & Truth Featured Posts.
You can see your article here—
https://www.pinterest.com/embracingtheune/grace-truth-christian-link-up-featured-posts/.
Thanks for featuring this post, Maree. It’s hard to fully comprehend the extravagant love of God for us. Love is not only something God does, but also who He is. God loved us so much, He gave His only Son to give us eternal life.
Apologies for being late in commenting ma’am. Another masterful post. How Satan has tried to copy, imitate, and replace true godly love. There’s nothing that can compare to the original, is there? God’s blessings my friend.
What people made fake about love, God made true. Oh, how He loves you and me!
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