EVERLASTING, LOYAL LOVE

January 13, 2022

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have lovedH157 you with an everlasting love;H160 therefore I have drawn you with lovingH2617 devotion.

Jeremiah 31:3 (BSB)

   . . . the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

Jeremiah 31:3 (ESV)

The context here is that the Northern kingdom of Israel is returning from captivity in Assyria, but it applies to Judah upon their return from Babylon as well. It applies to all who are chosen by God and have surrendered their lives to Him. Our God has chosen to love us unconditionally which means He is faithful, loyal to those who are His children.

Restoration would follow the judgement of exile because the Lord loved Israel with an everlasting love and He would never withdraw His faithfulness from them. The Hebrew word translated as “faithfulness” here literally means “Loyal love”—the kind of love that never ends (Mal. 1:2). Paul also affirms that nothing can “separate us from the love of God” (Rom. 8:39).

The Jeremiah Study Bible notes

All the goodness God bestows on us flows from His steadfast, unfailing love for His chosen children as C.H. Spurgeon explains:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love.” There is the source of everything that is good and gracious—“everlasting love.” When God had once set that love on his people, anything and everything that is for their good may come out of it. All temporal good and all eternal blessings will come out of everlasting love.  

The Spurgeon Study Bible notes

Just as the Lord’s goodness, kindness, and faithfulness stem from His unconditional love, the Fruit of the Spirit can only be evident in our lives when it pours forth from the Christ-like love the Holy Spirit infuses into those who believe, those who trust in Jesus.

Do you struggle to display the Fruit of the Spirit in your daily life? Return to your “first love,” Jesus. As you remember His love for you, allow Him to give you that same love for others.

Father, let us be so in love with You that Your love flows through us to others. Help us to remain faithful and loyal to those You have given us to love.