Loving a Cheater

READ: HOSEA 1:1-11; 3:1-4; EPHESIANS 5:25-27

How much does God love you? The answer is: a lot!

But sometimes “a lot” can be hard to picture. To show us how faithful His love is, God gave us an analogy in the Old Testament: the story of Hosea and Gomer.

Hosea was a prophet, and God told him to marry a woman named Gomer. But Gomer was unfaithful and left him, causing Hosea deep hurt.

When Gomer cheated on Hosea, God explained that the hurt she caused was similar to the hurt God feels when we sin. Both the Israelite people and we as humans today have cheated on God with idols—things, ideas, and even people we worship instead of our good Creator.

Throughout the book of Hosea, God spelled out His anger and hurt toward His cheating people. But then the book takes a surprising turn.

God told Hosea to take back his cheating wife and love her like God loves the Israelites. Gomer had become enslaved to her lovers, so Hosea had to buy back his own wife and bring her home again. This parallels the story of Christ, who bought us at the much higher cost of His own blood on the cross. Jesus loved us so much that He took on one of the most painful deaths the Roman Empire could offer. Not only did He die to pay the price for our sin, but He also overcame death through His resurrection—He made the way to free us from our slavery to sin and ensure that we could be with Him forever.

Even though we have all cheated on God with our sin—and we continue to sin every day—He still loves us. More than a husband could ever love his wife. • Naomi Zylstra

• God loved us while we were enamored with the sin that enslaved us. As Christians, why is it important to remember that God continues to love us even when we are still enamored with sin? (If you want to dig deeper, read Romans 5:8; 8:38-39; 1 John 4:10, 19; Ephesians 2:1-10)

• If you want to know more about what it means to be rescued and forgiven by Jesus, see our "Know Jesus" page.

• As Christians, we know that our sin is just as bad as anyone else’s. How should God’s love for us motivate us to treat others? (1 John 4:11) Remember, if someone has hurt you deeply, loving and forgiving them doesn’t necessarily mean trusting them again—it might look like setting up healthy boundaries. Who are trusted Christian adults in your life you could talk to about this?

The LORD says, “Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever.” Hosea 14:4 (NLT)