For years Jesus loved the unlovables. He laughed with His disciples and listened to the pleas of the helpless and hurting. He lavished grace and forgiveness on all who opened their hearts to Him. He lived among us, “and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 NKJV).

Then it all came to a horrible, beautiful end. Jesus, the most loving person who ever lived, was alone in a garden, praying, asking God if there was any other way. But He knew. He knew there was no other way because He was The Way. Just as He told Thomas, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (14:6).

So He laid down His life for us. He hung on a cross and held the weight of our sin in His nail-pierced hands—whether we’re religious or rebellious; humble or haughty; skeptical or sincere. It was for each of us that Jesus died. It was for you that Jesus died.

You are the reason God grew a tree that eventually became a cross.

You are so valuable to Him that He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV).

If you wonder just how much God really loves you, look to that horrible, beautiful cross where Jesus stretched out His arms as if to say, “This much . . . this is how much I love you.”

The message of the Cross is that God will go to any length to save you, endure any pain to bring you peace, and experience any loss to rescue you. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV).

No one will ever love you more or better than Jesus. Let the shadow of the Cross fall upon you today, reminding you that you are loved—deep, wide, and forever!