The love of God pays no attention to my prejudices caused by my natural individuality. If I love my Lord, I have no business being guided by natural emotions—I have to feed His sheep.

Your skill can never buy you love. It may win you admiration and envy, but never love. If that was what you were after, you have wasted your time.

Perfect love. It means love that goes on doing until there isn't any more to be done, and that goes on suffering until it can't suffer any more. That's why, when Jesus hung on the cross, He said, 'It is finished.' There wasn't one sin left that couldn't be forgiven, not one sinner who couldn't be saved, because He had died. He had loved perfectly.

He never mocks your weaknesses or throws your sin in your face. He never gets tired of you or gives up on his relationship with you. He doesn't ask you to earn what you can never deserve, and he never makes you feel guilty for needing his good gifts. His love isn't conditional and his grace is never temporary.

His love for you is never a result of your character; it is a clear demonstration of his.

We are God's forever and ever. He will never turn his back on us. He will never angrily throw our sin in our faces. He will never withdraw his presence and his promises, no matter how messed up we continue to be, because our standing with him is not based on our performance, but on the perfect record of his Son. But

You are eternally loved by God; you are eternally his son or daughter; what he wants for you is always right and best; and what he has planned for you is immeasurably better than anything you could have dreamed for yourself.

Jesus faced separation from his Father in the here and now so that we would know the Father's acceptance now and for all eternity.

You obey not to get God's attention, but because you have been the object of his attention since before the world began.

All the human love we've experienced has been flawed in some way. But not God's; his love is perfect and perfectly steadfast forever. It is the single most stunning reality in the life of a believer. God has placed his love on us and he will never again remove it. There's a reason to continue, no matter how hard life seems and how weak you feel.

It means that as parents we need to daily remind ourselves that we're called to rescue our children again and again, and we should not resent those moments when that rescue is necessary.

True biblical love doesn't just accept you, bless you with patience, and greet your failures with forgiveness. Along with all these things, it works to do everything it can to protect you from the eternal weaknesses of heart that make you susceptible to temptation.