Psalm 109:5,6

When Jesus was on earth, he went about doing good and healing people oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38). He loved the poor. He healed the sick. And he even raised the dead.

Yet what did he get in return?

A cross.

Kindness was met with cruelty. Truth was met with injustice. Liberation was repaid with death. The world’s response to the Messiah was a proof of its depravity.

When we reward evil for good and hatred for love, we reveal a disjointed worldview. And that is what sin does: it blinds our minds, corrupts our emotions, and perverts our wills.

Sin is unrequited love. We do not really understand it until we look at it in light of God’s love. A God who is infinitely loving chose to make us in his own image so we may dwell with him in a loving, trustful relationship. But we scorned the love (and still do), choosing to go our own way. And we have been at it throughout human history.

The results are all too obvious. Broken hearts, depressed minds, dysfunctional societies, moral decay, and so much more.

Thankfully, this God of love is also a God of grace. Though betrayed, he has not abandoned his creation. He came to earth to share in our suffering. Beyond that, he also came to resolve it. And while we confirmed our brokenness through our response to him, he was executing a plan to mend that brokenness forever.

He succeeded, and because of that, we have the opportunity to get back to God’s original plan. We have the chance to walk in love with the God whose very name is Love.

If only we would take it.