I noticed in the comments from yesterday’s Catch that there was an overwhelming sense of wonder as to what God saw in us that was valuable enough to make us worth saving when we know how messed up we are. And that made me think again, why does God love us? Is it something in us that is somehow lovable? I think not. I don’t think that God is responding to something in us as much as He is acting out something in Himself. His own love for us. That’s why John wrote “God is love.”
God loves because that’s who He is. He loves us because He is love. The love starts and ends with Him, and therefore, the value comes from Him. He loves us because He loves us.
The value we have comes from God’s love, it is not the cause of it. God doesn’t look from heaven and say, “John over there is a pretty good dude; I think I’ll save him.” Instead, it’s more like, “John over there is a mess, but I’m going to save him anyway.” Or, “The whole human race is a mess but I’m going to save it. I’m going to loved My creation back to Me.” The value is His, not ours.
So yes, we have value, but that is nothing intrinsic in us but that we are loved by God, and that is the whole deal. There is no reason for Him to love us except that He is love.
Why does God love us? Because we are worth it? Because we are so valuable? No. He loves us because He wants to. He chose to.
Noel Paul Stookey sings a song, “Danny’s Downs” by Michael Kelly Blanchard about how love imparts value.
Michael Kelly Blanchard
On the day little Danny arrived
His father stared and his mother cried
They knew his name but they didn’t know why
He looked the way he did
This thing happens to other kids
How in the world are we gonna live
With a boy like that?
Doctor said,”Dan’s the first bad news
Second is his heart won’t make it through
It must be fixed unless you choose
To send him back where he came
Starve the boy from his name
Just six short days of pain
Or maybe less”
Chorus:
Danny’s Downs but Love is up
It’s been known to be more than enough
For more and more of us
Danny’s downs but Love is up
“I’m not that strong,” his father said
“The dreams are gone, the hopes have fled
Won’t be long after he’s dead
We’ll try again to find
The child we had in mind
Where the hell are those papers to sign?”
And the man broke down
In a private room Danny’s mother wept
As an old Jamaican woman swept
And not by chance their eyes met
(And she said)
“God’s gifts are only good y’know
And there ain’t no Love the Lord can’t grow
Aw honey, take that boy with ya when ya go
Back home
(Chorus)
It’s been eight years since the surgery
His sister’s 5, his brother’s 3
He goes to school and he knows how to read
He takes the bus home by himself
Puts his lunch pail back upon the shelf
And he hugs his Momma till she melts
To the floor
They’re more than a home, they’re a family
‘Cause blood and bones are still souls y’see
And someone’s baby’s just another Danny
And in the guest room in the back
Lives this old Jamaican black
‘Cause when you give a gift
God gives it back again
Danny’s Downs but Love is up
It’s been known to be more than enough
For more and more of us
Danny’s downs but Love is up
John Fischer The Catch 
“Briar Removal”
Have you ever tried removing briars from your yard. It can be a painful and bloody experience, not to mention leaving scars.
In a similar vein, sin can be challenging to deal with. It’s no surprise, and if we don’t get to the roots sin can overwhelm. And that is why Jesus shed His blood on the cross for us.
Jesus wore a crown of thorns upon His head shedding His own blood for our benefit. But Jesus’ greatest test may have been in the Garden when He sweated great drops of blood. (Luke 22:44) We know we cannot remove sin from our hearts on our own; that’s like trying to separate a fool from his folly. Temptation and sin can only be overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit.
When we reach out to the Holy Spirit and to each other we can remain persistent and persevere. So sin and temptation can be overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimony. So reach out not only to the Holy Spirit but to one another to receive healing and forgiveness. Equally important is to forgive one another and keep short accounts. Unforgiveness leaves scars.
Andrew 🔥
James 5:16 NLT
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
John 15:4 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
4 Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.
Titus 2:11-12
Romans 8:11
May His grace and mercy help you realize the gifts of the Holy Spirit and see them manifested in your life. 🙏
Amen. Unforgiveness hurts the one who won’t forgive more than the other.
Loved Today’s Catch Pastor John & TY for including Paul S. song too. Put a few tears rolling down my cheeks listening to it.
God is Love. Therefore He had to give. Love could not be alone in the universe. He had to create beings to love. We are His children. What other reason is there to love us? When we are a mess, God doesn’t save us “anyway” He saves us BECAUSE we are a mess. If someone is hungry you feed them because of that, not “They’re hungry, but I’ll feed them anyway” Just as a parent knows their children need them, God knows we need Him. God also knew ahead of time before He created us just how much Love He could give…enough to go to the cross.
Thank God for his love because we all would be lost without that love and that has been since the beginning of time and thankfully still now and forever.
This seems an appropriate time to review the merits and Truth of Love:
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
Shalom, Peace…
🙂
I agree about God’s love for us. He made us to love Him and made us so He could and would love us. Amazing!!!
There is another story I want to tell about the song Danny’s Downs. Kitty corner from us lives a family with four children. The second one was born 20 years ago. She has down syndrome. When the mother was pregnant with her, she had an ultrasound as is the custom today. A represenative from the hospital phoned and gave them the bad news”. The father answered the phone and when he was asked when they would like to schedule the abortion, he emphatically stated, There will be no abortion, we want this baby.
Today this young lady is 20+ years old and is called Sara Joy. My wife has had the joy of giving her piano lessons for many years. Sara is loved by God and brings joy into the houshold.
She has also told her story to audiences willing to listen to how she is a joy to her family. It is called her passion speech. This family understand that God loves sinners of all kinds..