Skip to main content
#
Centreville Community Church

The OVERUSED Word

With REALLY BIG meaning!

February 13, 2025

By: Donna Chisholm Schoening

Love is one of the most overused words in our English language. People declare their love of just about anything. They “love” their coffee, dog, cat, homes, cars, spouses, jobs, children, and the list could go on and on and on. We often use the same word “love” to describe our feelings for each of these things. I dare say the same word should not be used to describe how we feel about our coffee and children.  We use “love” and “like” interchangeably as if there was no distinction between the two.  People “love” going on vacation. Countless songs have been written about “love”. Our phones give us the option to “love” a text message. The mere click of a button will afford us the ability to “love” a post on social media without even knowing the details behind the post. The post may have nothing to do with what we think but we can still just “love” it. 

The King James Version of the Bible consists of 788,280 words. Per https://www.christianbiblereference.org/faq`_WordCount.htm, the word “love” is used 131 times in the Old Testament and 179 in the New Testament. (This does not count other forms of the word such as “loved”, “loves”, etc.). Even though the word “love” is not a frequently used word in the Bible, God’s viewpoint and usage of the word “love” is clearly seen and vastly different from ours.

God’s love for us is so powerful that He willingly gave His most precious “thing”, His Only Son’s life and blood, to purchase our salvation. Remember, God knew when He created mankind that he would fall and in order to restore that relationship with Himself it would require the sacrifice of His ONLY Son.

John 3:16   For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Oftentimes our “love” is conditional or influenced by what people do or say. We “love” things and people as long as they are what we are anticipating them to be. For example, we “love” people as long as they love us and do what WE want them to do. We “loved” our vacation because the weather was beautiful, we saw amazing sights and enjoyed our stay. However if we endured rain on our vacation, “loved” is not typically a word used to describe it. 

God’s love for us is unconditional and uninfluenced by us. There is nothing we can do that will cause God to love us more or less. While it may be hard for us to comprehend, God loved Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, and Hitler, the murderer of millions of Jews, as much as he loved the Apostle Paul. God told the children of Israel I did not choose you because of how great you were in number because you were actually the least in number. 

Romans 5:8    But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Deuteronomy 7:7-8a    The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because the Lord loves you…

According to the Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, God’s love for us is steadfast. Some of the synonyms for “steadfast” are “committed to a cause”, “loyal”, “dedicated”, “devoted”, “true”, and staunch”. Let those adjectives resonate within your mind, heart and spirit when you think about the love God has for YOU. David spoke of the steadfast love of God frequently in his writings. 

Psalm 103:8   The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Psalm 94:18 (ESV)   When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

Even when Job had lost his ten children, health and wealth, he could  still experience and chose to acknowledge the steadfast love of God. We should do the same.

Job 10:12 (ESV)   You have granted me life and steadfast love and your care has preserved my spirit.

David reminds us that it is because of the love and faithfulness of God that we can depend on Him to always protect us. 

Psalm 40:11 (ESV)   As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!

God’s love is faultless, it NEVER fails. God’s definition of true love includes the attribute that it never fails. The Bible tells us nothing is impossible with God which is because He NEVER fails, thus His love never fails. 

1 Corinthians 13:8a   Love never fails.

Luke 1:37   “For with God nothing will be impossible.”

We have the promise that the steadfast love of God endures forever, never ending. The love shown to us by people can cease for a myriad of reasons; hurt, anger, betrayal, divorce, end of relationship, death and even proximity at times. It is comforting to know that the greatest love of all “endures forever”. Psalm 136 (ESV) uses this phrase twenty-six times. Something repeated that number of times is worth noting. 

Psalm 136:26 (ESV)   Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Paul reminds us how powerful the love of God is in our lives. It is because of the love of God that we are more than conquerors and that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Think of that! You, in and of yourself, are not a conqueror but you can be a conqueror because of the One Who loved you. 

Romans 8:37-39   Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The song “Reckless Love” by Cory Asbury reminds us of the love of God. I must admit the word “reckless” initially bothered me when I first heard this song until I remembered “reckless” is also defined as bold and daring. 

“And oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, Oh, it chases me down, fights ‘til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine. I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, you give yourself away. Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah”.

My prayer is that we will know and experience the love of God in our lives in a personal, life-changing way. How will you experience His love today?

    © 2019 Centreville Church of God, 101 Gray Fox Lane, Centreville, MD 21617

    email usour facebook page