With a day dedicated to love approaching, we rounded up three articles that radically counteract the way the world views love.  We know, outside of Christ, love is always self-seeking. But how do we love as Christ loves us? What is the source of this love?

Here are three articles to challenge our human view of love and place our eyes back on the “backwards” love of Christ.

1. Jesus Didn't Die So He Could Love You

"Here is my error. I imagine that Jesus died so that God could love me. I figure that God saves in order to love. He cleans me up a bit and then gives me his grace. His atonement leads to love, not the other way around. 

So when I encountered Psalm 18 speaking of the Lord delighting in me and therefore rescuing me, well, it seemed backwards. I had to let the Word confront me again." 

Read the rest here.  

2. God's Love Turns Gomers Into Hoseas

"Most people think they have to clean themselves up and make a bunch of changes before God will receive them.

In Christianity, however, we have the great reversal, seen in stories like Hosea. He offered his love to Gomer while she was a prostitute and again when she was an adulterer. She didn’t have to free herself from prostitution and clean herself up first in order to merit Hosea’s love. He offered it to her freely and unconditionally.

Hosea modeled God’s scandalous love for us: Acceptance and forgiveness and unconditional love come first; change follows in response.

One of the most riveting examples of this is Jesus’ encounter with his own Gomer—the woman caught in adultery in John 8."

Read the rest here.

3. What Is The Source Of Biblical Love?

“Love is a decision.” “You have to choose to love.” We’ve heard statements like these inside and outside of the church. Perhaps we understand what many are attempting to communicate. The sentiment is a reaction to the widely accepted notion that love is a feeling. But feelings are fickle and change constantly. So, if love is defined by the way you feel, love is always unstable.

Maybe we need to rethink the way we view love."

Read the rest here.