The love of God is folly. His love is overwhelming, and illogical. We cannot even comprehend the magnitude of His love. Nothing will stop Him from pursuing His love.
When my husband and I first began dating, we would find any excuse to spend time together. One of our favorite activities was to put together jigsaw puzzles. We would stay up so late, sitting in my parent’s living room, talking and laughing. There were times he didn’t leave until midnight, and he had to be up early the next morning for work. There was one time he came over even while he had a migraine. Nothing was going to stop him.
I also remember, as a young teenager, how in love my brother was with his now wife of 22 years. This one winter a blizzard hit our city, but that was not going to stop him from seeing his love. Once the snow stopped falling, but with the city still at a standstill, he bundled up and walked to her house without telling my parents where he was going. It was 6 miles. There was more than a foot of snow. Nothing was going to stop him.
Those overtures of love are special. To be wanted, to be loved and pursued, this makes us feel worth and value. But these are such minuscule demonstrations of love when we compare them to what God has done for us.
God’s Love
He gave up everything because of His love for us; His love for you.
He gave His child.
God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into this wicked world to bring to us eternal life through his death.
1 John 4:9
He gave His life.
No one can kill me without my consent—I lay down my life voluntarily. For I have the right and power to lay it down when I want to and also the right and power to take it again. For the Father has given me this right.
John 10:18
He took our punishment.
In this act we see what real love is: it is not our love for God but his love for us when he sent his Son to satisfy God’s anger against our sins.
1 John 4:10
Desperate Love
In order to understand His desperation for us, we must understand what was at stake. Because God is all good, He cannot allow evil. And we, dear friend, are an evil people born into an evil world. I know that sounds incredibly harsh, and you may be thinking, “How dare you, I am a good person!” But it is not about being good, it is about being perfect. God’s standard is perfection. Part of this standard of perfection is that we put Him above all other things. I don’t, and I know you don’t, therefore we have failed. If we are not perfect, we are sinful. If we are sinful, we are evil. There is no gray here.
Because of our evil, and His perfection, we have been separated from His presence. We owe a debt for our sins. Justice must be served. We are not, however, able to pay that debt and be reunited with Him. His desperation for us is so intense, He made a way.
Think about this, He hasn’t withheld our punishment. It’s not that He changed His mind. The punishment was given, and it was received by Jesus. He took it all. And the punishment was not just the excruciating torture and death. The punishment that truly broke Jesus was that God turned away from him. Never before had the Father and the Son not been in complete unity. But because of our sin that blackened his soul, God (who is all good) could no longer look upon him.
The debt for sin has been paid.
The Love of God is Folly
How could we ever ask for more? Yet, He invites us to do just that. He loves us so immensely, that He desires to continue to poor out His blessings. This may not mean we get what we ask for, but we have the freedom to ask, and can trust the answer given because we can trust His love for us.
So what is this kind of love that gives…and gives…and gives. It’s foolish! The love of God is ridiculously foolish. Nothing, NOTHING, is going to stop Him from being with you. The French say, L’amour de Dieu est folie! The love of God is folly.
The love of God is ridiculously foolish. Nothing, NOTHING, is going to stop Him from being with you. Click To Tweet
Do you know you are loved? Do you know the gift being offered to you? Will you accept it?
“If we are not perfect, we are sinful. If we are sinful, we are evil. ” – First, I love how you laid this out. Often I hear people talk about being “good”. But, as you said, it’s not about being good. It is so hard to comprehend the love of God. It is infinite and unconditional. There is nothing else in this world that meets those standards.
For years I didn’t understand that God is love. I only knew the GOd who judges and lays down unrealistic expectations. It wasn’t until my 20s that I began to understand God is about love… and that I am loved and lovable! GOd is amazing!
God’s love is beautiful! If we only understood how much God loves us, we would not be so desperate to seek it from others, but to pour out God’s love on others. (I love the story about your brother walking through the snow to get to his love!)
What an awesome reminder that He withhold His love from us! What an honor to be loved by Him!
Such foolish love is what makes rgevwisdim of this world go blizzard. I love the word folly in this concept … blessed by this post.
Such foolish love is what makes the wisdom of this world go blizzard. I love the word folly in this concept … blessed by this post.
Wonderful reminder about how vast God’s love stretches for ones so undeserving as us. There is no one like God.