Unexplored Love

Unexplored Love
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 NIV

I think that there are two kinds of love in the world. The one we are most familiar with is one that is strictly human. We love our family and friends, and they love us back. But now I have a question; does this type of love have any eternal value? If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them (John 6:32 NIV).

Now, there is a different kind of love among us too. This other type of love serves humanity and comes to us by Christ. This love not only reconciled man to God, not only permanently removed our sin, but also made us co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). This new love, this very much-unexplored love pushes us beyond our "love borders". Instead of loving just the ones that love us, God calls and pushes us to imitate His love in this world. His love is not content with the ones that seem deserving, but with the ones that seem like they are beyond all love and grace.

Both loves have, as Bonhoeffer put it, the same power, passion and exclusivity. But they both have radically different goals. The first is centered on I, and Me. The second is centered on God and my neighbor. I think the second kind of love is the one that will garner the attention of the world. And when they examine this love, they will inevitably be led to God.