The Love Initiator

Before we arrived at Clydehurst Christian Camp, I was oblivious to what would take place. I had two goals going into the week. The first was to look for God everywhere and in everything that I did. The second was to rest. After the chapel I was utterly blown away!

The morning series was about how the cross of Jesus Christ affects our everyday relationships. Every morning Jerry presented from the Scriptures an aspect of Jesus’ character that we see at the cross and how that should affect how we treat others.

The first morning Jerry described the love of the cross from a most familiar passage, John 3:16. Walking out of that chapel session, I almost believed I had never heard John 3:16 before. He carefully picked open the familiar verse revealing glimpse after glimpse of God’s love for us.

He started with, “For God so loved the world…” I never realized how much that phrase alone means! God, who is holy, perfect in righteousness, initiated love with the world, which was dead, filthy, and helpless in sin. That’s incredible!

Thoughts raced through my mind. Why would this beautiful and awesome God even look at something as unlovely as me? But He did! He looked at me with love! Such love that he sacrificed His own Son to free me from my slavery to sin and give me a new life!


Jerry helped us to see that we did not deserve this love at all. Steeped in sin, we were nothing – worthless. Yet God initiated love toward us, not because of who we were, but because of who He is. God is a love initiator! It’s his very nature.

Lately I’ve been reading in Ephesians. This is what Paul says about the matter:

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live…Like the rest we were by nature objects of wrath…But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:1; 3-4)

From an earlier post, the theological definition of grace is unmerited favor. Our salvation is the result of God looking on us favorably, in love, when we could do nothing to earn or deserve it. He is a love initiator!

Jerry ended with a challenge from the apostle Paul:

“Be imitators of God…as dearly loved children…and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:1-2).

I was challenged. I know the people in my life that I have difficulty loving. Suddenly it seemed easier; before the cross, I see that I was a very unlovely person, yet Christ initiated love to me. Now with the love He gives to me, I need to imitate Him and initiate love towards others, even those who are hard to love or don’t return that love.