One thing that brings me great joy is my dog. No matter how long I’m gone, when I return, Lacie runs to greet me with tail wagging, body wriggling, and voice squealing. No matter what, she can’t wait to shower me with dog-love . . . just because.

Don’t you wish people loved this way? Can you imagine if your spouse or kids squealed with excitement every time you came into their presence? Okay, maybe that sounds weird, but knowing we’re loved makes us feel good. And knowing we’re loved unconditionally makes us feel amazing. 

That’s exactly how God loves us. We’ve done nothing to earn his love. In fact, we’ve all done things that should cause him to bare his teeth or run in the opposite direction. Even when we’ve ignored, disappointed, or hurt him, God still loves us. How do we know? “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 NLT). No strings attached . . . just because. 

No matter how long we may have been away from him (two months, two years, a lifetime), whenever we approach him, he wriggles with joy and reaches out with open arms. “This is real [unconditional] love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:10 NLT).

I can’t help but think that God created dogs to remind us of his unconditional love. After all, D-O-G is G-O-D spelled backward. 😊