Price of God’s love?

By joannsblog2016 on May 18, 2025 • ( 0 )

“From the belief that I have to earn Your love – Deliver me Jesus” – Litany of Trust, Sisters of Life

When I first read this, and even several iterations after, I didn’t quite get this first line in the Litany of Trust, “From the belief that I have to earn Your love”. How does this relate to trust? After letting it seep for a bit, I realize that if I believe I have to earn God’s love, how can I surrender? With this belief, I’m constantly trying to do this or that to get His attention so He can love me. If I surrender my will and trust Him, I realize He loves me no matter what I do.

What does the Bible say?

The Bible identifies four types of love, agape, eros, philia, and storge. Huh? You can love or be loved four different ways?

Let’s break each down.

Storge is the affection and love between family members, such as the love between a parent and child.
Philia is the love two friends share, a bond of affection and loyalty to one another.
Eros, the romantic and passionate love that a wife and a husband share.
Agape, which is the greatest love. It is the love God has for each of us, a selfless, unconditional love.

To understand this first line in the Litany of Trust, we must understand this agape love. There are many passages in the Bible that illustrate agape.

Agape is expressed in the familiar verse of John 3:16 “for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

This passage, the most popular passage in the Bible hits the nail on the head. Agape, God’s love, is given freely as a gift for all who believe. Because He loves us and wishes to spend eternity with us, He gave His only Son for us. I have two daughters. I couldn’t imagine sacrificing either of them for another. In fact, my life as a single mom is filled with sacrifices I make because of my love for them.

If any versus could illustrate God’s unconditional love for us, it is John 3:16. But if we still don’t quite see that we don’t have to earn God’s love. We can walk into the Bible and read a few more passages that illustrate it for us.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul also points out through his teaching that “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from you; it is the gift of God, it is not from works, so no one may boast,” Ephesians 2:8-9. We cannot earn God’s love through our good deeds or our obedience to His Will. It is a free gift through His loving grace for each of us as His children, created through His love.

There are so many instances in the Bible where Jesus demonstrates love without merit. At the cross, Jesus welcomes the thief beside him into the Kingdom of God. This man, a thief, who probably didn’t worship God, didn’t care much for anyone but himself, didn’t earn his way into the Kingdom of God. It was freely given to him through the power of Jesus’ death for atonement for his sins. Another example that stands out to me is the Roman soldier whose ear was cut off by Peter when Jesus was arrested. Jesus, without a second thought, heals him. He literally places the ear back in place. This man didn’t do anything to earn Jesus’ love and compassion. He was there to arrest Jesus.

In Luke 19:10, Jesus tells us that He came to seek and to save the lost. He came not to judge but to love and redeem. His love is not based on anything that we do, but His desire for us to live eternally with Him.

What do the Saints say?

Many of the Saints have also written about God’s unconditional love through their experiences and understanding.

St Augustine, who often wrote about the intimate relationship between God and the soul, wrote that “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” He believed that despite the vastness of creation that God’s love is intimate and present for each of His creation, neither divided nor diminished. C.S. Lewis also touches on this concept of God’s intimate relationship with us as he writes about God in time and space in his book “Mere Christianity”. He writes, “He [God] has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. He does not have to deal with us in the mass. You are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being He had ever created.” I can’t think of anyone on this earth that has one on one time to spare with me in every moment of my life, even when I do a million things for them.
St. Therese of Lisieux, known for her “little way”, wrote “Jesus does not demand great actions from us, but simply surrender and gratitude. Has He not said: ‘Come to Me all you that labor and are burdened and I will refresh you’?” St Therese is known for her simple childlike faith. A faith of trust in the mercy of God through love. She believed that God’s love was a gift, not a reward for good behavior. He pours out infinite mercy to us, despite our actions.
St. Catherine of Sienna wrote “You are not loved because you are good. You are good because you are loved.” She believed that God doesn’t love us because we do good things but it is His unconditional love for us that produces the goodness within us. We are charitable because of His love within us. We are kind because of His love within us. Like St. Catherine of Sienna, C.S. Lewis writes “He [God] puts a little of His love into us and that is how we love one another. When you teach a child writing, you hold its hand while it forms the letters: that is, it forms the letters because you are forming them. We love and reason because God loves and reasons and holds our hand while we do it.” (Mere Christianity)
St. John of the Cross also wrote, “God desires the least degree of purity of conscience in you more than all the works you can perform.” Another illustration that we cannot earn God’s love. It is in our humble surrender and transparency before Him that He desires the most, more than our accomplishments.

Several other Saints have written or spoken about God’s unconditional love for us. It is not something that we can earn, but is truly a gift given to us.

Receiving His love and being grounded in this love develops a desire within us to share His love, to do acts of kindness, ministry work, mission work, etc.

What do life experiences say?

We tend to base our ideas and thoughts of love on the capacity we are given to love or on the experiences we’ve had of love. What we know often is only what we experience.

Growing up, I was achievement oriented. I always wanted my dad to be proud of me because if he were proud of me, he would love me. If I did something wrong, or made a bad grade, it upset him. In many cases I was punished or disciplined. I never realized until I began to reflect deeper on my relationship with my dad, that I felt I had to achieve something so he would be proud of me and love me. I believe I felt this way because these were the moments I got attention from my dad. My dad loved the way he knew how and he raised me the way he knew how. But I think this contributed to how I saw God’s love for me. If I was good, God would love me. If I was not, I sinned, God was disappointed in me. I even recall thinking that when life was tough, things weren’t working out, God was upset with me and I was being disciplined.

Fast forward life and a deeper relationship with God, I know this not to be true. I know that God loves me no matter what I do. And when I’m in a pickle, He is right beside me giving me the tools I need to persevere.

So, what does your life experiences say about how God loves you? Based on your journey, do you feel that you have to earn God’s love or do you feel it is a gift?

Application of the Litany of Trust

As I mentioned at the beginning, when I first read this line of the litany, I didn’t grasp the connection to trust. As I read it multiple times, and let it sit with me, it hit. I can’t surrender, and neither can you if we believe that we have to earn God’s love. We will run in circles, doing this and that and trying to affirm if we’ve done enough. So how do we apply this part of the litany. Reflect on your experiences with others, understand why you feel this way because it is likely due to a relationship you have with another that reflects how you think God’s love works. Read scripture passages that affirm God’s unconditional love and read about one of the Saints, perhaps one I’ve mentioned. Most importantly, pray for Jesus to deliver you from the concept of having to earn His love.

Through my journey of trusting God, I believe that developing trust has several levels. Each time you reach one level, there is another. Perhaps, it is a process of refinement depending on our capability. I know in my journey, I am still in the development stage of surrendering 100%. My hope is as I process each line of the Litany of Trust with a deeper understanding, I can truly let go and let God lead.