God-centered Living

(This reflection is one of the short chapters from a larger project I’m writing on the multifaceted beauty of the Gospel, which happens to contain a chapter on each of the four Advent themes. Each week of Advent, I’m sharing a different “facet” of the good news through the themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.)

The Source

God is love (1 John 4:8). Love is not merely something he does but who he is. Within the Triune God, the Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father, and the Spirit eternally shares in that love. Spilling out from the overflow of eternally rich love within the Trinity, God created the world and humanity in his image, made to love him and one another. To be human is to be designed for self-giving love—love that moves outward, delights in the good of another, and reflects the eternal love of God. Love is naturally outward-facing and others seeking. To love is to live out of the joy of relationship with God and to act according to that joy.

   The Loss

But sin corrupts love. Sin turns outward-facing love inward. Instead of loving God with all our heart, soul, and strength, we loved ourselves first. Instead of genuinely loving our neighbor as ourselves, we prioritize self-love, using others to meet our “felt needs.” Sin twists love into selfishness, lust, manipulation, and indifference. It leaves us truly unlovely and genuinely unloving. As Jesus said, “Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold” (Matt. 24:12).

 The Futile Response

In our hunger for love, we chase counterfeits. Many seek it in romance, hoping another human will fill the void. Others crave approval, living for the affection of peers or the applause of crowds. Others settle for shallow substitutes: lust, flattery, or manipulation. And there are still even more subtle distortions like people-pleasing, codependency, or sentimentality. At a glance, these things may look like intimacy, but they are only costumes of love—relational plastic surgery that mimics beauty without producing it. What we often call “love” is frequently self-centered desire wearing a mask: affection that expects a return. Our society champions “love” but is desperately starving for it. Even the best love from fellow image-bearers cannot fully satisfy. Their real but partial goodness only sharpens our ache for the greater love of the One whose image they reflect. False and incomplete loves cannot quiet our souls; they always leave us longing for more.

   The Consequence

The ultimate consequence of sin is to be cut off from God’s love forever. Scripture speaks of Hell as “eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thess. 1:9). To reject the God who is love is to embrace lovelessness. Hell must be an eternity of isolation, self-centeredness, and despair. Sin eventually leaves us entirely unloved, unloving, and unlovely. If, in this life, you insist on remaining your own greatest love, then it seems you will receive the ultimate fulfillment of your desire—left to admire only yourself forever, with nothing lovely left to find.

   The Substitution

But God, in his great love, did not abandon us. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Jesus himself defined the nature of true love: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). As the beloved Son, he entered our loveless world. He was despised and rejected, forsaken by his friends, and crucified by those he came to save. At the cross, he displayed the fullest expression of love: self-giving, sacrificial, pursuing the good of those who had rejected him. He bore the penalty of our unloving hearts and was treated as entirely unlovely, so that through faith alone we might be embraced in the Father’s everlasting love.

   The Resurrection

On the third day, Jesus rose again, and love decisively triumphed over sin, hatred, and death. The resurrection declares that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:38–39). What looked like love defeated became love vindicated. The risen Christ is proof that God’s love is stronger than the power of sin and death.

   The Transformation

Through faith, God’s love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5), renewing us from the inside out. We are adopted as his children, secure in his affection. Freed from the slavery of self-love, we begin to love God and others truly: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Though we are still imperfect now, his love reshapes our desires, our relationships, and our entire way of living. Love becomes the distinguishing mark of our new life—not counterfeit affection or shallow approval-seeking, but Spirit-born love that reflects God’s heart. Even when human love fails or disappoints, his love poured into our hearts enables us to keep loving.

   The Consummation

One day, love will be perfected. Paul says, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13). In the new creation, faith will give way to sight, hope will give way to fulfillment, but love will remain forever. God’s people will dwell eternally in his love, loving him perfectly and loving one another without sin or selfishness. Heaven will be the endless fellowship of love with God; no more counterfeits, no more disappointments, only perfect love received and perfectly returned. Every fragmentary glimpse of love we tasted here will be gathered up into the fullness of his eternal embrace.

   The Call

The Gospel commands us to receive the love of Christ through repentance and faith. We must be satisfied with it. Are you continually looking to false loves: romance, approval, lust, or selfish gain? Or are you abiding in Christ, the One who laid down his life for you? Only through faith in him can you know the love that never fails.

   The Application

The Good News of love redefines how we live today:

• When you feel unloved: Remember that the God of the universe has set his everlasting love on you in Christ.
• When you’re tempted to seek love in the wrong places: Remember that false loves can never satisfy.
• When you struggle to love others: Remember that the God who loved you first now enables you to love with his own love.

Reflection Questions

1. Where are you most tempted to chase false loves?
2. How does God’s love for you in Christ reshape how you view yourself?
3. What would it look like to love others out of the overflow of being loved by God?

In Christ, my loveless heart is healed, and I am embraced by God’s eternal love.