What is true love? The question has been asked forever. Not everyone agrees. There's a startling answer found in the Bible. The prophet Hosea marries a prostitute named Gomer. She's predictably unfaithful to him, but God tells him something that's strange to us. He told Hosea to take his wife back and restore her.

 

1 Corinthians 13:4–5 says, "Love is patient, love is kind. It doesn't envy, it doesn't boast, it's not proud. It doesn't dishonor others, it's not self-seeking, it's not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs."

 

How often does this world seem interested in redeeming anything? Rarely. That's why we need God to model perfect love for us, love that restores and heals. Hosea did not keep score. He only loved, and that's a picture of how God deals with us, his chief creation. We reject him, cause pain, but always he's there waiting with open arms. I think we can do at least as much for someone in our lives. Let's pray. 

 

Lord, you're a forgiving God. Thank you for loving us in our sin, in our filth. You long to restore us and we love you for that, in Jesus' name. Amen.