Blake Long

Recently we were eating our family dinner and Jovi wanted to hear “The Solid Rock.” She absolutely loves it. After it ended, I turned on “He Will Hold Me Fast,” by the Norton Hall Band at Southern Seminary. It’s one of my favorite songs and I knew she’d love it, too.

Before turning it on, my wife explained to Jovi, “Now this doesn’t mean God is so fast!” To which I added, “Right! This means that when God saves someone, He will always keep them.” When I said this, I felt the need to clarify. “It means God’s love for you will never change. He will always love you and will never let you go.”

After thinking for a moment, Jovi said, “Yes! And Piper, that means He even loves you!”

I immediately turned my head to hide my laughter. Did that mean, “Piper, He even loves you”? Or did that mean, “Piper, He also loves you!” It’s no secret in our family, and to those around us, that our youngest can be somewhat of a difficult child sometime. We love her to death and are so grateful to God for her personality, her laugh, and everything in between. But sometimes she’s just hard.

I’m not sure if Jovi was telling Piper, “God even loves you, despite how difficult you are sometimes,” or if she was saying that He loves her in general as well. Both are precious, though. I don’t think she was trying to say even you to Piper, but it made me think: I think that’s how it is for all of us.

That is the mystery of the gospel, the scandal of God’s grace. He loves us in spite of who we are or what we’ve done.

Yes, friend, God even loves you. And me. And other Christians whom you find difficult to love.

He even loves you, the Christian who keeps running back to that nagging sin.

He even loves you, the believer who has a hot temper and a cynical attitude.

He even loves you, the follower of Jesus who tends to follow your heart too many times.

He even loves you, the one who, time and time again, falls into patterns of lust.

He even loves you, the one who can’t seem to trust in God’s sovereign and good plan when life gets tough.

He even loves you, the (sort of) former pornography addict who is struggling to break free from its bondage.

He even loves you, the one who had an abortion in the past.

He even loves you, the one who paid for an abortion in the past.

He even loves you, the one with a horrifically racist past.

He even loves you, the one who struggles with same-sex attraction even though you affirm the biblical sexual ethic.

He even loves you, the one who mistakenly believes your former life is too much for God to handle and wipe clean.

He even loves you, the abrasive, sarcastic Christian who struggles to be serious when times call for it.

Yes, He even loves you.

And He even loves me, one who finds it difficult to be vulnerable, to be open, to be completely honest about what I struggle with.

Perhaps you got the point after the second or third “He even loves you…” That’s great. But maybe you haven’t gotten there yet, so let me be clear: He even loved all of us. We all have baggage. We all carry stress and anxiety and shame. We all load around bundles of past guilt and current self-loathing. We all pack our mental bags each morning with heaps of “it’s all about me.”

And yet, despite all our messes, all our failures, all our sins, God even loves us. Better yet, as a child of God, there was never a time when God didn’t love you. His affection and love has forever been on you. Believer, Jesus didn’t die so that God could love you. Jesus died because God already loved you. Yes—even you.

Don’t believe the lie that you’re unlovable, that you’re too messed up for God to set His affection on you. God loves you. Rest in His mercy and grace.