2 Corinthians 5:14–15 (ESV) — 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
God Loves you!
This small phrase seen on bumper stickers, t-shirts, poster board at football games, leaves most of us assuming on the love of God. We see this as God offering himself to us, like the shy 6th grader hoping we will take him up on his offer to dance. God’s love is seen as a passive offer we are free to take him up on at our choosing and our discretion.
Yet the Apostle Paul paints a very different picture of the love of God in 2 Corinthians 5:14. He describes the love of God overruling, overmastering, and holding him. He is held in the grip of God’s love, unable and unwilling to be freed. It is this grip of the love of God that influences Paul to act and live the way he does. It is the love of God that calls us to no longer live for ourselves and to live for Christ.
What is our great motivator for life and worship? The love of God seen in the death and resurrection. As the world celebrates romantic, hallmark love, we will be taking a different look at the love of God. Enjoy the ride.
Post in the comments below ways you have been gripped by the love of God.
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