Get this: You are ALREADY loved by God. Full Stop. No conditions. No qualifications. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. You are ALREADY a beloved child of God.
In the church world we have a word for this love – we call it grace.
Grace Defined
The bible is a great starting point for better understanding what grace is all about. According to New Testament lexicographer, Dr. Spiros Zodhiates (and with a name like that you know he means business!) grace is:
…that which causes joy, pleasure, gratification, favor and acceptance. A favor done without any expectation of return, the absolute free expression of the love of God finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the giver… It changes the individual to a new creature…
In other words, grace is a no-strings-attached gift of love given to us by God that we may be transformed and made new.
The Foundational Christian Experience
The experience of grace is the foundational Christian experience. It’s both the starting point of faith and the thing that keeps even seasoned Christians walking in the way of Jesus.
What is this experience like?
It’s like being met with a hug when you expected to be locked out of the house. It’s like being told you’re forgiven when you know the thing you did was totally unforgivable. It’s like being crushed with debt and living paycheck to paycheck only to be told you no longer owe a thing.
The experience of grace is like all that and more. Over the millennia much ink has been spilt trying to capture its breadth and depth, and yet theologians have yet to find its limits. But one thing is for sure: the experience of this embracing, forgiving, debt-relieving love is where the Christian journey begins.
Continuing an Ancient Tradition
While no ink is spilt in its writing, Transforming Love carries on the ancient theological work of expanding and expounding on what the grace of God is like. Our stories and articles will give you a deeper understanding of the depth and breadth of God’s love. What’s more, these stories will communicate to you in so many different ways that God’s love is for YOU. Just as you are. Just as God made you. No prerequisites. May you experience it for yourself!
Bible Verses About God’s Love For You
Psalm 103:8
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
Romans 8:38-39
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below — indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 3:18-19
And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
