The Reckless Love of God

Oh the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God.

Oh it chases me down, fights til I’m found leaves the ninety-nine.

I don’t deserve it.

I couldn’t earn it.

Still you give yourself away.

Oh the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God.

Reckless Love by Cory Asbury

Have you ever pondered and reflected on the worship songs we sing today in our churches? every once in awhile, it will give me a good pause and cause me to really stop and think about what it is that I am actually singing. Songs are often emotionally charged moments for me anyway, but when I sense that urge to dig in deeper, I will do so.

In the past, the song quoted above was one I actually disliked. I played semantics with the word ”reckless” in the title. The definition of reckless is essentially of a person or their actions without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action. (sited from the New Oxford American Dictionary)

I sat with that definition for a little bit. And then I sat with the lyrics of the song after our church sang it together during worship this past Sunday.

And I ultimately came back to the conclusion that this love of God? It is radical. And from those on the outside, to those who have not experienced the incredible mercy and power of God’s love...it does not make sense and qualifications of who God should show love to are created.

I am taking a bit of creative liberty here to say this, so bear with me. God’s love is reckless, but not how you might think of as reckless. God does not concern Himself with worrying over whether we will accept His love or not. Return His love or not. He does not worry or fret or freak out if and when we may betray Him. He is concerned for His child’s soul and where they will end up for eternity. That is Reckless. He didn’t need a relationship with us.....He chose to have one with us.

If God knows all, then He already knows the posture of our hearts when He makes Himself known to us with His love. He chooses to love us. He chose, since the beginning of creation, to set in plan a Way to save His beloved children and bring them back to Himself. He gave up His only Son so that we would not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

In our finite minds, we cannot possibly fathom loving a person with that much recklessness. Let’s be honest, unless it is our child, we are more than willing to abandon the love of a person who has hurt us, betrayed us, shown that they are not worthy of the love we can give. I know that it is true for me. We will shout to the rooftops and on our social media pages that loving someone who does not love you back is foolish and stupid and reckless. You are only hurting yourself, we say. We like to live in a world that has clear sets of rules. It is much easier that way and sometimes, less painful.

But, I cannot stop myself from thinking about how much my God loves me, regardless of how many times my own selfishness, impulsiveness, angry outbursts, lack of faith and trust, and hurt have pushed me away from loving Him back and giving Him the praise He is rightfully worthy of.

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God.

Tiffany