The value and quality of any love is determined solely by the lover himself. It is for this reason that most of us would rather love than be loved. ~Martin Barber

I think I’m more scared of being loved than I am of loving someone. It’s easier to be the admirer than to be admired. But why is that? I don’t think I’m all that different from most people, and yet, I bet most would feel the same way.

Is this the great tragedy of man?

That we have this huge, limitless power to love another, but when it comes to receiving love—even just a small fraction of it—we hesitate, we struggle, sometimes we can’t even let ourselves believe it.

Maybe that’s why God’s love is so hard to truly receive—because being loved is passive. It’s given freely, without conditions, without favor. And that’s unsettling. Maybe even more so when it comes to God. Because if love can be given freely, without strings attached, then doesn’t that mean it could just as easily be taken away? That’s how love works in the world, right? People give it, and they take it back. So deep down, we assume God’s love must work the same way.

But what if it doesn’t?

Maybe that’s why God sent His Son into the world—so we could see with our own eyes a love that isn’t like ours. A love that can’t be removed… like ever. A love that doesn’t fade, doesn’t weaken, doesn’t disappear. The kind of love that doesn’t make sense by our rules.

And in His rising, we see the greatest lesson—not only will this love never be removed… but it’s endless. Truly endless.

So maybe the great tragedy of man isn’t just that we struggle to be loved…
Maybe it’s that we don’t know what to do with a love that can never be removed… like ever.