God’s Unwavering Love

Have you ever felt too far gone for God to forgive or love you again? The story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:20 reminds us that no matter how far we stray, God’s love never wavers. Before the son could even speak a word of repentance, his father ran to meet him, embraced him, and celebrated his return. This story isn’t primarily about the rebellious child—it’s about a loving Father whose compassion and patience are relentless. Intersecting Faith & Life How might you respond differently if you fully trusted that God’s love never wavers? Are there areas of your heart where you’ve kept the door closed to Him? What steps can you take today to run toward God and receive His compassionate embrace? Do you want to listen ad-free? When you join Crosswalk Plus, you gain access to exclusive, in-depth Bible study guides, devotionals, sound biblical advice, and daily encouragement from trusted pastors and authors—resources designed to strengthen your faith and equip you to live it out boldly. PLUS ad free podcasts! Sign Up Today! This episode is sponsored by Trinity Debt Management. If you are struggling with debt call Trinity today. Trinity's counselors have the knowledge and resources to make a difference. Our intention is to help people become debt-free, and most importantly, remain debt-free for keeps!" If your debt has you down, we should talk. Call us at 1-800-793-8548 | https://trinitycredit.org TrinityCredit – Call us at 1-800-793-8548. Whether we're helping people pay off their unsecured debt or offering assistance to those behind in their mortgage payments. https://trinitycredit.org Full Transcript Below: God’s Unwavering Love By Cindi McMenamin Bible Reading: “When he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20 NASB) Do you ever feel that you have disappointed God too much for Him to give you another chance? Do you fear returning to Him because of the places you’ve been or the things you’ve done? Jesus told a moving story in Luke 15 about God’s tender forgiveness toward His loved ones when they go astray. We call it the story of the Prodigal Son. The word prodigal literally means one who spends money in a reckless, extravagant way. In this story, a younger son asked his father for his inheritance early. (In Jewish custom, that would be the equivalent of telling his father he wished he were dead.) He then took his share of what was still legally his father’s, and went to a faraway land and squandered his entire inheritance on foolish, reckless, raunchy living. He was living high on the hog, rich with money and “friends,” until he found himself sleeping with the pigs, penniless and alone. Starving, and upon realizing he was envying the pigs for the slop they got to eat, he decided to return home and ask if he could be his father’s hired hand. Then at least he’d be fed better than pigs and have a place to sleep among his father’s servants. It must have been a long, grueling journey home for this man, who by this time was smelly, scrawny, and had been homeless for quite some time. A long walk home without food, water, proper clothing, or even good shoes only increased his shame and humiliation. Perhaps he had a speech prepared, an admission of his wrongdoing, a pleading for his father to consider taking him in as a servant. Or, maybe he just intended to fall in shame, at his father’s feet, and beg to even be heard. But before he could utter a word, his father surprised, shocked, and overwhelmed him with the unexpected greeting he received. His father’s pride was at stake with the return of a son whom he should consider dead to him. How he reacted would set an example to other Jewish families when their rebellious sons acted with such disrespect and contempt. Yet this father, upon seeing from a distance that the scraggly man making his way up the road was not some homeless derelict or demon-possessed wanderer, but his long-lost son, picked up the ends of his robe and ran to meet him. Before the shamed son could even utter a word to express the humiliation in his heart, his father embraced him, held onto him like there was no tomorrow, and then ordered his servants to give his son a robe (representing his position as “sonship”) and a ring (indicating his authority once again as an estate holder). The father then ordered that plans be made to celebrate the homecoming of his wayward son. They literally threw a party. This son, who was once thought dead, was now alive. He had returned home. There was no punishment. No lecture, no shaming, no rebuke, and no harsh words. Just grace. Forgiveness. Abundant love. I used to think this story was about the warning to not rebel, the consequences of disobedience, and the importance of repentance. But the story isn’t so much about the rebellious child, but about the patient, persevering, forgiving love of a father—the one...