God’s Love Does Not End With the Righteous: 10 Reasons to Believe

Pr Enos Mwakalindile
Aug 5
5 min read

Updated: Aug 6

Does God really love even those who are lost?

Faith Built on Truth – In Christ, Through Scripture, For Life

Graffiti of a girl with closed eyes rests her head on a desk in a yellow room. Floor art shows her sitting with crossed legs. Room number 112.

Introduction

Some people whisper it in doubt, others shout it in anger: Surely God only loves the good—the churchgoers, the holy, the ones who look like they have it all together. Yet look at the world around you. Rain falls on fields owned by the kind and the cruel alike. The sun kisses the faces of saints and skeptics without discrimination. Could it be that God’s love is larger, wider, more scandalous than we dared to imagine?

God’s love does not sit behind velvet ropes waiting for the righteous to arrive; it spills out into alleyways, prisons, nightclubs, and battlefields. It chases after the addict and the atheist, the rebel and the religious hypocrite. This is a love that refuses to quit, a love that finds you not because you are worthy but because He is relentless. Here are ten reasons to believe.

1. God Loved Us While We Were Still Sinners

Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This is not a love that waits for us to get our act together. It moves first—when we were enemies, running from Him, His love ran toward us. The cross is proof: He does not love because we are lovable; He loves because He is love.

It’s like a parent rushing into a burning house to save a child who caused the fire. God’s love meets us in the flames, covers our shame, and carries us out to life.

“The cross is proof: God’s love finds us not when we are worthy but to make us whole.”

2. Jesus Ate With Sinners and Tax Collectors

Jesus’ critics sneered: “Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34). They could not comprehend a holy man sharing meals with unholy people. But Jesus showed us a God who doesn’t recoil from sin but steps into broken lives with healing grace.

It’s like a doctor choosing to work not in gleaming hospitals but in emergency tents after disasters. Jesus’ table was a parable of divine welcome—no one too messy, no one beyond redemption.

“At Jesus’ table, grace is the main dish and sinners are the honored guests.”

3. God Is Like a Father Who Runs to His Prodigal

The prodigal son insulted his father, wasted his inheritance, and returned home covered in shame (Luke 15:11–32). Yet before the son could explain himself, the father ran to him, embraced him, and celebrated. This is God’s heart for the lost—joyful, generous, overflowing.

Picture a mother scanning every face at an airport, waiting for the child she thought was gone forever. When she sees him, she runs. That’s God’s love: sprinting toward the undeserving, rejoicing in their return.

“God’s love runs faster than your shame and meets you before you finish your apology.”

4. God Loves Even His Enemies

Jesus said, “Love your enemies … that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good” (Matthew 5:44–45). God’s love is impartial; He blesses even those who resist Him.

Think about how gravity doesn’t ask who you are before holding you to the ground. In the same way, God’s love holds every life, even those who curse Him. His love invites enemies to become family.

“If the sun still rises on your life, then grace is already at your doorstep.”

5. God Does Not Delight in the Death of the Wicked

God says in Ezekiel 18:23, “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” He is not eager to punish but eager to save, longing for hearts to turn back to Him.

It’s like a teacher who disciplines not to break a student’s spirit but to guide them into their true potential. God’s love moves through justice not for revenge but for restoration.

“God’s justice is not vengeance without love but mercy yearning for transformation.”

6. The Good Shepherd Leaves the Ninety-Nine

In Luke 15:4–7, the shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to seek one that is lost. This is risky, costly, relentless love. God’s focus is not only on those safe in the fold but especially on those far away.

Think of a search-and-rescue team refusing to stop until the last missing person is home. That’s how God loves—He doesn’t write anyone off as too lost.

“God’s love counts until every lost one is found.”

7. God’s Love Is Steadfast and Covenant-Bound

“His love endures forever” (Psalm 136). God’s love is hesed—faithful, loyal, and unbreakable. Our failures do not erase His faithfulness (2 Timothy 2:13). He holds on even when we let go.

Imagine the ocean’s waves: relentless, crashing against the shore no matter what the coastline looks like. God’s love is steady and unshakable, even for those who resist Him.

“Even when your grip on God fails, His hold on you never does.”

8. Jesus Forgave His Executioners

On the cross, Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). God’s love absorbed humanity’s hatred and responded with forgiveness, not vengeance.

It’s like someone forgiving a driver who hit them, choosing healing over bitterness. God’s love is costly—it absorbs pain so reconciliation can happen.

“On the cross, God’s love wrote forgiveness in the ink of His own blood.”

9. God Desires Everyone to Be Saved

1 Timothy 2:4 tells us God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” No one is outside His invitation. His love reaches across every boundary—racial, cultural, moral, social.

It’s like an open invitation to a feast sent to every home, even those on the margins of society. God’s gospel invitation reads: Come, you too belong here.

“God’s love writes ‘welcome’ on every human heart, waiting to be read.”

10. Nothing Can Separate Us From God’s Love

Romans 8:38–39 declares that nothing—not death, demons, the future, or our failures—can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus. This love is not fragile or conditional; it is unstoppable.

Think of a mountain rooted deep in the earth, unmoved by storms. God’s love is firmer still. No force can tear His love away from you—not even your worst day.

“God’s love is the last word over every life—it does not let go.”

Conclusion

Look at these ten threads woven together: a God who runs to rebels, eats with outcasts, forgives enemies, and dies for sinners. His love doesn’t stop at the walls of churches or the moral elite. It floods prisons and hospitals, sweeps through alleys and palaces, whispers into lonely rooms and crowded streets. It is a love fierce enough to chase you, patient enough to wait for you, and strong enough to carry you home.

So here is the question: If God loves like this, what will you do with His embrace? Will you run away, or will you let Him run to you?

Prayer

Father of mercy, thank You for loving us even when we were lost. Help us to rest in Your love and extend it to others, even those we find hard to love. Heal our hearts and draw us into Your welcoming arms. In Jesus’ name, Amen.