Love is Uninfluenced

One night my wife asked me why I loved her. Well, I took a deep breath and began to think about all the things she had done, the times we have shared, and what she continues to do for me, and it took 30 minutes for me to express why I loved her. But I have to admit, before I met her and even while we where dating I didn’t love her. I had to grow to love her based on what she had done. It became clearer to me that my love for her was based on how she loved me and expressed that love for me over the years we have been together. The point is that when I was prompted to give this answer my first word was “because”. My love for my wife was effected and influenced by something. After 17 years, that may not be the case but initially it was. When I assert that God’s love is uninfluenced, I mean that there is nothing in the nature of God’s love that is hindered nor helped by anything else. Neither is there anything or anyone that can prompt God to distribute his love or induce it. God’s love is liberal, free, and uncaused. God purposes to love whomever he wills and the reason is found in and of His own will, “The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved thee” (Deut. 7:7-8). In other words, when asked why God loves me, the answer is because he loves me. There is nothing I can do to cause him to love me. There is nothing that can trigger the love of God. He shows compassion on whom he wills (Exodus 33:19). Now I understand clearly the words to my favorite childhood song, “Oh, How I love Jesus, Oh, How I Love Jesus, Oh, How I love Jesus, Because he first loved me.” John also supports the premise in this song in 1 John 4:19, “ We love Him, Because he first loved us”. God loved us before we had one iota of love for him. Before we could lift a holy hand, “He loved us”. Before we could sing a hymn or song, “He loved us”. Before we could work in his vineyard, “He loved us”. Before we had a chance to say “Lord I love you”, My God Loved Us! The awesome part about this news is that if there was nothing I could do to earn this love, then there is nothing I can do to lose it. When God chooses to love, it is not based on our ability to receive or maintain this love. This means that you can be the most wretched person and feel as though God wouldn’t love you. But since the origin of God’s love was not prompted by your ability to be righteous nor live holy, God’s love can reach you no matter what your past is and where you have come from.