The Shocking Truth: God Loves Us Not Because We Are Good

The Performance Trap of Jakarta Life

Every morning in Jakarta, millions wake up to the relentless pressure of performance. From the packed commuter trains of KRL to the towering offices in Central Jakarta, the message is clear: your worth depends on what you produce. Students chase perfect grades, employees work late to impress bosses, and even in our relationships, we often feel we must earn love through our behavior.

This performance mentality seeps into everything—including how we think about God. We unconsciously assume that divine love operates like human love: conditional, earned, and dependent on our goodness. But what if I told you that the most shocking truth of Christianity turns this assumption completely upside down?

The Counter-Intuitive Nature of Divine Love

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Notice the timing: while we were still sinners. Not after we cleaned up our act. Not when we became good enough. Not even when we believed. While we were actively rebellious against God, He demonstrated His love by sending Christ to die for us.

This is perhaps the most counter-intuitive concept in all of human thought. In Jakarta's competitive environment, where everything from apartment rentals to job promotions depends on our qualifications and performance, the idea of receiving ultimate love and acceptance based on nothing we've done feels almost impossible to grasp.

Yet this is precisely what makes the gospel so revolutionary.

Why Our Goodness Cannot Earn God's Love

The Perfection Problem

If God's love were based on our goodness, we would need to be perfectly good to earn it. But here's the problem: none of us are. Even our best actions are mixed with selfish motives. That generous donation to charity? We felt good about ourselves afterward. That patient moment with an annoying colleague? We were proud of our self-control.

"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6)

This isn't pessimism—it's realism. And paradoxically, it's the beginning of hope.

The Anxiety of Performance-Based Love

When we believe God's love depends on our performance, we live in constant anxiety. Did I pray enough today? Was I kind enough? Did I share my faith boldly enough? This turns the Christian life into an exhausting treadmill where we're never sure if we've done enough to maintain God's approval.

Many Christians in our kebaktian mingguan at GKBJ Taman Kencana struggle with this very issue. They love Jesus but feel constantly guilty, wondering if they're disappointing Him. This guilt is a sign that they're still trying to earn what has already been freely given.

The Shocking Foundation of God's Love

So if God doesn't love us because we're good, why does He love us?

God Loves Because of Who He Is

"God is love." (1 John 4:8)

This simple statement is profound. Love isn't just something God does—it's who He is. His love for us isn't a response to our lovability; it's an expression of His essential nature. Just as the sun shines not because of the worthiness of what it illuminates, but because shining is its nature, God loves because love is His nature.

The Basis Is Christ's Goodness, Not Ours

Here's where it gets even more shocking. God doesn't love us despite our lack of goodness while remaining disappointed in us. Through Christ, He loves us as if we were as good as Jesus.

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

This is the great exchange: Christ takes our sin, and we receive His righteousness. God's love for us is based on Christ's perfect goodness, not our imperfect efforts.

How This Truth Transforms Everything

Freedom from the Performance Trap

When we truly understand that God's love isn't based on our performance, we're freed from the exhausting cycle of trying to earn what we already have. This doesn't make us lazy—it makes us grateful. And gratitude is a far more powerful motivator than guilt or fear.

A member of our church in Jakarta once told me, "When I realized God loved me unconditionally, I actually wanted to serve Him more, not less. But now it comes from joy, not desperation."

Healing for the Hurting Heart

In a city where loneliness often hides behind busy schedules and crowded spaces, many carry deep wounds from conditional human love. Parents who withdrew affection when grades dropped. Friends who disappeared during difficult seasons. The message that God's love is unconditional brings profound healing to these wounded hearts.

Strength for Moral Living

Paradoxically, knowing that God's love doesn't depend on our goodness actually empowers us to live better lives. When we're not frantically trying to earn love, we can focus on expressing gratitude. When we fail, we can confess quickly and move forward rather than wallowing in shame.

The Ongoing Journey

Understanding God's unconditional love isn't a one-time realization—it's a daily journey. Our hearts constantly drift back to performance mode. That's why we need regular reminders through Scripture, community, and worship.

At GKBJ Taman Kencana, our Christian church community in West Jakarta, we've seen lives transformed when people really grasp this truth. The anxious find peace. The guilty find freedom. The proud find humility. The discouraged find hope.

Living in the Shocking Truth

The shocking truth that God loves us not because we are good but because He is good changes everything. It transforms our prayers from nervous performances into confident conversations. It changes our service from reluctant duty into joyful response. It turns our failures from faith-crushing disasters into opportunities to experience grace afresh.

This Sunday, as you join believers across Jakarta in worship, remember: you are not trying to earn God's love—you already have it, fully and forever. You're celebrating what Christ has already accomplished, not performing to gain divine approval.

In a city that never stops measuring worth by performance, this is indeed shocking news. But it's also the most liberating truth you'll ever encounter. God's love for you is not in question. It never was, and it never will be.