The Unrelenting Love of God

Let’s talk about the word “unrelenting.” It means undiminished in intensity or effort, unyielding, uncompromising, incapable of being changed or persuaded by arguments.

Unrelenting, constant, sustained, never-ending — what a marvelous description of God’s love! Nothing can hinder or diminish his loving pursuit of both sinners and saints. The Psalmist put it perfectly: “You have hedged me behind and before, and laid your hand upon me…Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there” (Psalm 139:5, 7-8 NKJV).

David is speaking of life’s highs and lows. “Sometimes I feel so blessed and filled with joy. At other times, I feel condemned and unworthy; but no matter how I feel or where I am, Lord, you are with me. You never accept my arguments about how unworthy I am. Even when I am disobedient, you never stop loving me. Your love for me is relentless!”

Consider the testimony of the apostle Paul. Here was a man bent on destroying God's church. Paul had a fierce hatred for Christians. He breathed out threats of slaughter against everyone who followed Jesus. He even sought the high priest's authorization to hunt down believers so he could charge into their homes and drag them off to prison.

God’s fervent love for Paul never wavered, even during those hate-filled years. In a letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, “But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He was saying, “Even though I wasn't conscious of it, God was pursuing me. He kept coming until he caught up with me and literally knocked me off my high horse. That’s the unrelenting love of God.”

Throughout the rest of his life, Paul’s confidence in God’s faithfulness only grew. “For I am persuaded,” he wrote, “that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 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” (Romans 8:38-39).