But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8 (NLT)
Love is not something you earn with good looks or a winning personality. Love is a gift that you give someone, and it’s a gift that God has given to you.
It can be easy to assume that love needs to be earned. When our parents give us more love and attention after we bring home a good report card, we make a few assumptions. When we disappoint our parents with bad behaviour or failure and they give us the cold shoulder, we make a few more. And without even realizing it, we’re buying into one of the greatest lies on the planet—the lie that love must be earned.
The truth is that love is not earned. Love is a gift.
Now, trust certainly is earned. The fact that love is something to be freely given doesn’t mean we should jump into relationships with anyone. Relationships require both love and trust, so let’s not get the two confused. But when it comes to love, we have to learn to seperate it from our performance.
Have you been trying to earn God’s love through good behaviour? I’m here to tell you that you can’t. This realization is the most freeing one you may ever have. In fact, the more you realize how loved you are, the more empowered you are to live God’s way.
Keep doing good things for others and for God, and always do your best to follow His ways. Just realize that you’re not doing it to earn His love, but because you want to live a great life, and you know that following His advice will take you there.