But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Romans 5:8
Unconditional. Without limitations, no matter what, free of charge…no strings attached. These are all ways to describe the love and acceptance that we receive when we invite Jesus into our lives. But what about when we sin? What about the times that we make a decision to “change our ways” or “never do that again”, only to find ourselves right back in the same (or maybe even a worse) situation? Or what if we are completely engulfed in a sinful lifestyle; giving in to every temptation and desire, without hesitation? How could we possibly still be eligible for God’s love?
The truth of the matter is, the love of God is a free gift! There is nothing that we can do to earn it, and there is nothing that we can do to stop it! Romans 5:8 says “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” This means that God, knowing that the hearts and minds of humanity were corrupt, still displayed his selfless love by sending Jesus to die for us. Knowing this, you may be thinking “If God is going to love me anyway, what is the point of trying to obey His word?”
Think of it like this. Say someone gave you a key to a safe that contained an endless supply of cash. You are told that the cash is yours to benefit from anytime you need it, you just need your key. So what happens if you lose your key? The cash is still yours and the person that gave it to you didn’t take it back BUT you can no longer experience the benefits of having it, until the key is recovered. That is what happens when we sin. God still loves us and the benefits of that love are still ours; however, our access has been compromised.
Repentance is the key to regaining access to God’s love!
To repent, simply means to turn around and go the other way. Deciding to regularly repent of our sins and have our actions line up with God’s word, allows us to freely benefit from all the things that God has promised to us. Though we never lose God’s love, when we sin we forfeit the peace and security that he gives us when we obey his instructions. Acts 3:19 says “Repent, then turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out and times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”
Take time to identify the areas of sin in your life and make a choice to turn away from those things. Allow the Lord to refresh you, today, as you return to him and unlock all the wonderful gifts that are waiting for you!
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, thank you for your unconditional love! Thank you for continuing to love us even though we repeatedly sin and fail to reciprocate that love. When we act in ways that are contrary to your word, help us to know and understand what it looks like to repent and turn back to you. Once we do, help us to accept the forgiveness that you have freely made available to us and unlock all the benefits that come along with your love. Dismantle the lie we’ve believed; that our “mess up” is too big for your blood to cover. Thank you for loving us with no strings attached. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Written By: Britnie McDonald
