Adamant in Love

God is love.

Love is our Father’s nature. He doesn’t love us because he has to; he loves because he cannot not love us. God didn’t tolerate us in the Old Testament and decide to love us in the New. He didn’t decide to love us because Jesus told him to. His love for us was what set our rescue in motion. He gave his Son to express his love for us. His love cannot be conquered by rejection and 

self-loathing. We could never convince him to stop loving us, for long ago, before we had any say in the matter, he set his love over us as a banner and welcomed us at his table.

God doesn’t have love for us. God is love for us. God’s love for us is adamant, invincible, steadfast, and stronger than death.

Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them. You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. (Exod. 15:11–13)

God leads with love.

His love is our true north, the one constant by which we can navigate life. Without the assurance of this love, it is easy for us to lose our way and wander off course. Ultimately, it is his love that leads us home.

 

His love for us is not dependent on us. His affection toward us does not vary according to our behavior. He always has loved us. He always will love us. We cannot earn what we never deserved any more than we can pay for what has been given.

“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isa. 54:10)

His love will not leave us. People may come and go, but his constant, adamant love will remain. Because his love is immovable, we have been wrapped in a covenant of peace. Jesus, our adamant Cornerstone, is the Prince of Peace. From his realm of highest power, he whispers peace to every storm in our bodies and to every tempest that assaults our minds. His compassion for us knows no bounds. We can be at peace because there is no denying his love for us. To deny his love for us, God would have to deny his love for his Son.

Because of his adamant love for us, we were redeemed in Christ, our Adamant. You may ask, “How can I be sure this is true?” His love for us can be seen: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

Love Is a Choice

Diamonds capture more than the potential of married love; they express attributes of love itself. Like diamonds, love is conceived in wombs of fire and pressure. There can be seasons, years, or even decades when love is buried deep under the surface like a hidden spring. You know it is there. It was planted years ago deep within the soil of your life, yet you 

cannot see its beauty or feel its fire . . . all you sense is its subterranean whisper.

Love in its truest form is not a feeling. It is a choice. Love is why an exhausted mother rouses herself from sleep to respond to the frightened cry of a child. Love is why a father works long hours to provide for his children. (And yes, love means there are times when these roles are reversed.) The point is that love gives even when it is not returned.

Once Love has chosen, he does not change his mind.

We love because Love chose us. You love because God chose you (1 John 4:19). And our Father loves even when we don’t.

First Love

God is and will always be our first love. He loved us first, and this first love isn’t immature; it is adamant. He does not love us in the hope we will be like someone else. There was never another that he compares you to . . . it was always you. It was always the collective us he loved. Though we first loved others, he first loved us.

Lisa Bevere

Lisa Bevere is a New York Times bestselling author and internationally known speaker. Her previous books, which include Fight Like a Girl, Lioness Arising, Girls with Swords, and Without Rival, are in the hands of millions worldwide. Lisa and her husband John are the founders of Messenger International, an organization committed to developing uncompromising followers of Christ who transform their world. Bevere has spent more than two decades empowering women of all ages to find their identity and purpose. Her latest book, Adamant: Finding Truth in a Universe of Opinions, just released nationwide on April 17, 2018.