In February, with Valentine’s day mid-month, it is often a time to think about love. There are different kinds of love: romantic love, parental love, brotherly love, …

It is within our nature to want to be loved, to feel that other people value and cherish us. And we have a natural tendency to want to show love and affection to others too. If we do not have other people to love and care for, then we often bestow our love on a dog or on other pets.

It may surprise you to learn that the Bible has been described as God’s love letter to people. One of the main recurring themes in the Bible is how God consistently loves people – despite their repeated and persistent failings. When anyone turns away from him, God does not ultimately want to punish him or her: he wants reconciliation – to restore the relationship of peace and love.

God’s love is unconditional. He goes on loving us regardless of what we do. He does not ignore our wrongdoing – but he wants to win us back from evil and self-destructive ways. He does not expect us to sort out our own mess before we come to him. He knows that we are incapable of doing that. God wants us to invite him into our lives so that we can know his love and peace and so that he can help us sort out the mess.

Those of us who attend church are not those who have got everything sorted and perfect. No, we are those who acknowledge that we need God’s loving help in sorting out the mess we make of things. And God often gives that help through others in the church.

In the end, our place in heaven is dependent on God’s unconditional love shown to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is not dependent on us being worthy of that love. We simply need to believe and trust in Jesus. But we have a choice as to whether we will receive his love or reject it.

You are always welcome to contact us or come along to a service to find out more about God’s love for you.