The Greatest Good

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. Psalm 145:3

God is the greatest good
 In all the universe;
 He is incomparable,
 And yet He is diverse.
 
 There is no other like Him,
 All things come from Him alone;
 He watches over everything
 From His glorious throne.
 
 He is diverse in how He shows
 His unending love for us;
 From pursuing us with a fierce love
 To a gentle, comforting touch.
 
 In turn we honor God
 By loving one another;
 Treating everybody as
 A sister and a brother.
 
 Make God priority one
 In a daily sense;
 Devoted to Him above all else
 As you revel in His presence. 

In Chapter 3 of Crazy Love by Francis Chan, he talks about how crazy God’s love is for us. He loves us despite our short comings. He loves us even when we don’t love Him back. He loves us unconditionally. There is nothing that separates His love for us. (Romans 8:38, 39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.)

That is such a powerful verse! Nothing can separate God’s love for me. Even when I strayed from my faith, He never strayed from me. He continued to love me. But more than that, He pursued me. I didn’t know it at the time, but I can see now how He directed my path back to Him. He put people and situations in my life that lead me back to my faith even though I wasn’t seeking after Him. (1 Timothy 2:4 [He] wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.)

It’s hard to really grasp that kind of love. To know that God desired a relationship with me, even though I didn’t want one with Him, and persisted in pursuing me anyway, is mind blowing! The closest I can compare that kind of love is the love I have for my children. I may not always agree with what they are doing, but I will always love them. I will always desire to have a relationship with them. My love for them is just a fraction of what God’s love is for me. (Lamentations 3:22-23 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.)

Francis Chan concluded that because of His great love, God is the greatest good in the universe. (Psalm 145:3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom.) After contemplating his directive to make our own statement of what is the greatest good on earth, I eventually came to the same conclusion. The greatest good on earth is to love others as yourself. (John 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.) To do so is to see them as our peers-as equal to us. When our egos and selfishness are shelved, we are able to truly hear and meet the needs of others. Jesus said love was the greatest commandment. I understand this truth because all other commandments rise or fall with or without it. Since God is love, God is the greater good! (1 John 4:15-16 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.)

God is the greatest good on earth because He taught us how to live in a way that not only honors Him, but honors others as well. Through Jesus, He showed us what heaven on earth looks like. Let us live in such a way that others see God’s love in us.

Lord, I am humbled by Your love for me. In return, may I daily show my love for You through my actions and words. Guide me in showing love to others by treating them as I would want to be treated. All praise and glory to You, my Lord and Savior. Amen