When was the last time you received unconditional love with no qualifiers or disclaimers?

My 6-year-old recently reminded me how important this kind of love is. One morning, on our way out the door, my son bashfully told me, “Daddy, I love you because . . . because . . . I love you.” Then he hugged me, and we hopped in the car.

My son’s words surprised me. Our family regularly encourages one another with phrases like “I love how brave you are” or “I love how special you make me feel” as we head out in the morning. So it was tough to tell if in that moment my son couldn’t think of something to say, was just ready to grab his backpack and get to school, or actually felt something profound. But during my 40-minute commute, I mulled over his words.

I love you because I love you. That’s how our God loves us too.

Yahweh’s Love

My thoughts that morning turned to Deuteronomy 7. In this chapter, the Israelites camp on the plains of Moab, anticipating their entry into the promised land. The wilderness years are finally over, and Moses wants them to remember just how far Yahweh has brought them. God’s love for them is staggering: “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers” (vv. 7–8).

Peter Craigie says the love Yahweh has for Israel is mysterious. It’s a peculiar, special love. Moses makes clear that the basis for that love isn’t found in the Israelites’ size or strength. Nothing intrinsic to Israel grounds God’s love. Rather, the Lord sets his love on them simply because he loves them. Even deeper, Moses grounds Yahweh’s love in the covenant he made with the patriarchs. The Lord keeps his oath by lavishing Israel with love and blessing.

Israel isn’t impressive—their 40 years in the wilderness are proof of that. How could Yahweh continue to love them so persistently? And when we’re sinful and unimpressive like Israel, why does he love us so persistently?

It’s His Nature

To answer that question, we must reflect on God’s character and nature. The Bible tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8). The three persons of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Spirit—have been loving one another since before the world began (John 17:24). God cannot not love himself. He’s no egotist, but as John Piper argues, he’s simply the only being in the universe worthy of his own affection.

Moses grounds Yahweh’s love in the covenant he made with the patriarchs. The Lord keeps his oath by lavishing Israel with love and blessing.

God is love, and he loves extending his love to us. The love of the triune God bubbles over into our lives as he creates, speaks, and saves. We receive this love from him, and he calls us to extend it to others.

Michael Reeves says, “In the triune God is the love behind all love, the life behind all life, the music behind all music, the beauty behind all beauty and the joy behind all joy.” We’re caught up in the love and beauty of the Trinity. But sadly—like Israel—we keep trying to prove we’re worthy of God’s love.

Not Because We’re Impressive

In a narcissistic age, our natural bent is to puff ourselves up. We broadcast the best version of ourselves on social media and place too much stock in our talents and success. Like peacocks, we display our feathers for all to see.

I’m not sure what qualifies as impressive to you. For some, it’s the amount of education or work experience you have. It may be making a name for yourself through influence, fame, and power. In a consumer culture, money and possessions rise to the top of the list—houses, cars, toys, and travel make us look great.

Day to day, the people around us often love us for our success and talents. They praise us for them. But will the Lord love you more if your career takes off and your bank account grows? Is his love tied to the state of your marriage, or your kids’ behavior and accomplishments?

Moses’s message gives us the answer: No. Yahweh’s love isn’t contingent on external factors. He simply loves you because he loves you—full stop. It’s not the impressive things about you that turn his gaze. Isaiah declares God’s words: “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isa. 66:2). Your curated self doesn’t impress God, but your humility and faith turn his head. While it’s natural to lean on your strength as you live the Christian life, in reality, weakness is the way.

Love’s Firm Foundation in God

We’re not on the plains of Moab awaiting entry into Canaan, but we regularly long for the Lord’s love and favor. Our souls desperately need it. Thankfully, the love we need has a firm foundation in God’s character and election of his people for himself.

Your curated self doesn’t impress God, but your humility and faith turn his head.

My son’s words jolted me that morning. They reminded me of the great love we have in the Trinity. The Father loves us by choosing us: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1). The Son loves us with the same loved he received from the Father: Jesus told his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” (John 15:9). Moreover, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom. 5:5).

God’s love isn’t contingent on my behavior or strength but flows from his nature—from the love he had within himself before the creation of the world. In the fullness of time, the Father poured out his love by sending his Son to save us (John 3:16; Gal. 4:4–5). And because of Jesus’s finished work on our behalf, we can remain in that love for all eternity.

I’d grown accustomed to my son admiring me for my strength: “I love you, Dad, because you are strong” were the words I subconsciously wanted to hear, but I needed to hear a different message from my son—and from my God.

I’m loved just because God is love. And dear Christian, wherever you are today, so are you.