“I am for you,” Sarah had said repeatedly over the past three months, admittedly alluding to Romans 8:31.

Jay had always appreciated that sentiment. It gave him hope that their relationship was destined to go on until death did them part.

Jay had moved halfway across the country for her; he had left his home church for her; he had changed many trivial things about himself for her; he had taken the first job he was offered for her. He was saving as much money as possible so they could be together forever in holy matrimony.

So when she began her monologue that day at lunch with the words, “Please know that I am for you,” Jay had no way of knowing a breakup was going to follow. And then, to conclude the conversation she repeated it: “I am still for you.”

***

Paul writes the following in Romans 8:32:

“What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

Now, admittedly, understanding this verse in its proper context requires us to go back and find out what things Paul is referring to. But, we only need to know the final phrase to get the point of this post.

if God is for us, who is against us?

Don’t lie to people about love

Here’s the thing: God is for us.

And if you–as a measly, fickle human–attempt to claim you are like God in being for people, you are casting a ghastly picture of God’s love when you claim to be dedicated to them like God is, but you run when things don’t look perfect anymore. Especially if you still claim to be like God in the situation.

God is for us.

God proved His for us-ness in sending His Son to die for us. He gave up His Son. He sacrificed. This is what love looks like. This is what it means to be for someone.

And I’ll admit it right now. I’m Jay. Sarah is the fictional name of my ex who dumped me back in 2016. While things are settled now, and while she and her husband played a huge role in my life–mostly positive in retrospect–i would be lying if i claimed the experience didn’t severely hurt me.

But it’s not so much the fact she dumped me that hurt. It’s the fact a Christian claimed to be for me and then wasn’t. It hurts. It hurts even when it isn’t a prospective spouse.

And if I’m sincere, i struggle daily with knowing i am called to live in love and knowing i am called to be connected to a church, but not wanting to do either because i don’t want to again be lied to and betrayed by people who claim to be for me.

Please pray for me.

God is faithful even when people are faithless

But when it comes down to it, the fact of the matter is that the verse doesn’t end with the words “If God is for us.” Paul continues:

Who can be against us?

In reality, God is still for us when His people fall short. Nothing can change the fact that God is for us. He gave His Son as verse 32 states, and if He has given us His most beloved, how will He withhold anything else from us?

Even though it hurts to love people, i can still love God, and over time He will give me the grace to love people well, despite the potential of being hurt.

Seek God in Christ, love Him well, and let that love spill over into the people in your life.

In this with you.

Soli Deo Gloria
Solus Christus

Thanks for reading.