Enduring Love

I was thinking this morning of Psalm 136 and the reminder to “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever” (v. 1). When you read through the whole psalm, it is tempting to skim over the repeated refrain “for His steadfast love endures forever” as the author recounts the exodus from Egypt. But that refrain may actually be the part we need to remember most. God’s steadfast love really does endure forever.

On this particular day we remember the events of 9/11, and we also are saddened by the news of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. We live in a sinful and broken world, and yet God’s steadfast love endures forever.

A child wanders off and dies. God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Another family adopts a child. God’s steadfast love endures forever.

One person lives decades with chronic illness. God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Another person dies at a young age. God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Some nations are perpetual battlegrounds. God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Some nations enjoy centuries of peace. God’s steadfast love endures forever.

When we are on the mountaintop, God’s steadfast love endures forever.

When we are in the deepest valleys, God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Michael Card wrote about Romans 5, “If we dared to be honest with Paul or ourselves or God, we might mutter that we were hoping for a little more than just hope as we huddle in our worn-out, earthly, cancer-ridden, death impregnated tents. But as he so often does, Paul anticipates our response. “Hope does not disappoint us,” he counters, because God has poured something into these hearts that beat so feebly behind the worn-out flaps of our earthly tent. He has poured His love into them through His Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5)” (The Hidden Face of God, ch. 26).

No matter what happens in our lives or in the world around us, God’s love never changes. That is what we hold onto and gives us comfort and hope when things go wrong. “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever” (Ps. 125:1). God’s love helps us to endure the hard times and to keep faith when we don’t understand. Let us cling to Him as firmly as He holds onto us.

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word” (2 Thess. 2:16-17).

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!” (Ps. 118:1).

© 2025 Text and image Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Right Empathy

If you spend much time in the Christian blogosphere, you probably have seen some reference to the “sin of empathy.” There have been a number of books and podcasts on the subject. The main issue seems to be the variety of conflicting definitions of what empathy actually is. Ed Welch stated, “Empathy is the ability to step into someone’s world in a way that the person feels understood. It is not approval of that world, but it is an understanding of it.”

Rather than wading into the debates, I want to focus on what Scripture says, and there is no better place to start than the two greatest commandments as declared by Jesus:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:37-40).

Whatever we do or say is to be rooted in God’s love for us, and should reflect the example of Jesus Christ as He chose to live among sinful humanity. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). He came to live in the flesh and experienced the worst of mankind, yet He was described as being full of both grace and truth. His love was revealed in His choice to die for us while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8). And now He intercedes for us as one who has been where we are. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).

While He ministered here on earth, He had compassion for those who were sick and hurting, but He was not afraid to call out sin and urge people to repent and change. After He healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, He told him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, than nothing worse may happen to you” (John 5:14, see also 8:11). When the rich young man came up to Him, Jesus looked at him with love and told him to go sell all that he had and then follow Him. This was not a challenge the man would accept (Mark 10:21-22). For Jesus, loving others meant helping them to see their true needs rather than leaving them in whatever sin or lifestyle they found comfortable.

So too are we to love others by exercising both grace and truth. “Love is patient and kind… it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:4-7). We are not meant to bury the truth of God’s Word in an effort to make others feel more accepted. “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ… Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” (Eph. 4:15, 25).

False empathy says, “I understand why you feel the way you do, and so I support you in whatever choices you make.” But true empathy says, “I understand where you’re coming from, but I love you too much to let you stay on a path that leads to eternal destruction.” It is far easier to affirm others than to correct or confront sin. There are different factors in every relationship, and we won’t always get it right. We all need great wisdom in relating to those we love, and who better to ask than the One who became flesh and exemplified perfect grace and perfect truth?

“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20).

© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.