How to Explain the Unexplainable Love of Jesus

How do you explain the incredible, upside down, unconditional love of Jesus to someone else? We don't mean explaining the biochemical reactions happening in your brain or how philosophers have tried to describe love through words. No – how do you convince someone that the God of the universe loves them forever despite who they are or what they’ve done? 

In his book Practicing the Way, John Mark Comer observes, "As a general rule, we become more loving by experiencing love, not by hearing about it in a lecture or reading about it in a book… We let God love us into people of love.”

And in Ephesians 3:19, Paul says his prayer for that church was that they would “know this love that surpasses knowledge.”

How do you explain something that surpasses knowledge? And when Jesus asks us to share the love of God with everyone (Mark 16:15), what is He talking about? How are we supposed to do that?

It’s true that most of the responsibility for this lies with Jesus! He will reveal Himself to someone when He chooses (Matthew 11:27), but there are things you can do to share the unique, profound, unconditional love that Jesus gives.

Here’s three ways you can do it…

Differentiate between human love and Jesus’s love.

Everyone craves deep, unconditional love, but we usually receive conditional love from others. Unfulfilled, we turn to things like relationships, achievement, escape, and distractions for satisfaction. A practical way to convey Jesus' love is by showing how other love types cannot fully satisfy our deepest needs. Only Jesus can meet our ultimate need for love.

Here are some ways that Jesus’s love differs from human love:

We tend to restrict love when hurt; Jesus loves anyway. When hurt, our love capacity goes down. It’s natural, but it has consequences. Usually, it means letting someone down or disappointing them. However, Jesus’ love never leaves or abandons us. (Read 1 John 4:9-10)

We often limit love when disagreed; Jesus loves despite any.
‍It takes maturity to step into someone else’s shoes–especially when that view opposes ours. In our human frailty, we often narrow love to specific worldviews and people groups. However, Jesus’s wisdom and love capacity is infinitely greater, as He loves regardless of what is. (Read Romans 5:8)

We often protect ourselves by retracting love; Jesus risked Himself to save us. Instead of an easy, convenient, safe love, Jesus chose a love that broke social norms, sent Him to the cross, and risked His life to protect others. (Read John 15:13)

Share your experience of Jesus’s endless love.

Take Jesus’ unconditional love from the abstract and make it practical: “Here’s what it looks like in my life…" Provide a range of instances to show His movement and that He moves. A testimony, or a witness, of God's unwavering love is a powerful thing (Revelation 12:11).

Pray that they experience Jesus’ love personally.

Even though it’s mentioned last, prayer isn’t a last resort. Prayer possesses immense power that might not always make sense—can we really change God’s mind? (Exodus 32:11-14) How do we know what and how to seek? (Read Romans 8:26) 

In his book, Prayer for Beginners, Peter Kreeft claims, “The reason this prayer is potent is that the name of Jesus is not just a collection of letters or sounds.” Prayers work because of God’s power, not our own. 

When you pray for your friend to have a personal insight into Jesus’s love, it's not like you’re praying for a sports car—He’s not the sort of God to deny something as beautiful and crucial as revelation.

There’s power when someone understands enduring love. Believe that Jesus desires this for your friends too! He will reveal Himself to people in His perfect and wisest time, but remember that He wishes to utilise you as well! So your part is to show people that the answer to their deepest desires lies in the unending love of Jesus. Step out and spread the love!