What response does God’s unconditional love still require of us?

John 3:16-17“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”

Romans 5:8God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Our response to God’s love doesn’t alter or increase that love toward us; it simply removes barriers between us and our experience of that love, the chief one being allowing the freeing, life-giving effects of God’s ultimate sacrificial act in expressing his love to change us and our destiny.

1 John 4:11-21Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.

The practical outworking of God’s love in our lives can be seen in the way we love others. When we do not love others or allow God’s love to shape and drive our love for others, we are indicating that we have not yet truly experienced and responded to God’s love for ourselves.