Steadfast Love & The Gospel (Proverbs 20:28)
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Proverbs 20:28
Steadfast love and faithfulness preserve the king,
and by steadfast love his throne is upheld.
Today is Day 200 of 2025. And you know what? In one sense, that's a big deal. In another, it's July 19th — it’s just another Saturday in the heat of summer. Maybe some golf, some reading, some time spent with people you love. But me personally, I just wanted an excuse to re-center and reorient ourselves on what this life is really all about.
Yesterday I mentioned how being in a new city the past few weeks, surrounded by unfamiliar faces and rhythms, and candidly seeing so so many homeless people, left me feeling disoriented. What I didn’t say… is how God used that discomfort to recalibrate my soul — to bring me back to the simple, seismic truth of the gospel.
You know what that is? It’s love. It’s that God loves you.
And you might be rolling your eyes. I know, I get it — that sentence feels worn out in 2025. “God loves me”. Look frankly it might be! I feel like our culture has so many different definitions of love that I think we all have a different idea of what it actually is!
But the Bible says ‘God is love’. Love isn’t just something God does — it’s who He is. But He defines love, not vice versa.
And God’s love isn’t vague or sentimental. It’s not “good vibes” from the sky.
This is a love that has shown itself, not with words but with blood shed on a cross.
That’s not empty sentiment. It’s death conquering.
The cross is not a symbol of affirmation — it’s a symbol of substitution.
That’s a huge distinction to make in a day and age that synonymizes love with affirming.
But love doesn’t always affirm. It doesn't always feel comfortable. Look back at God. He is just. He rebukes, he condemns, He does not waver from what is true. His eyes are too pure to look upon evil.
His love does not always affirm. It doesn’t say your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth. It says I am THE truth. And His love is selfless and sacrificial.
That’s what Proverbs 20:28 points to. “Steadfast love and faithfulness preserve the king.”
Who is this King? Jesus.
What upholds His throne? Steadfast love.
It’s love that rules the kingdom of heaven—and it’s that same love that came down to rescue us.
Love isn’t the absence of judgment, y’all. It's the presence of someone willing to be judged in your place.
And that may sound harsh — especially if you’ve grown up hearing that love means never judging at all. But if no one ever corrected you for anything you’ve done wrong would you grow?
Would it be loving of a parent to let their children continue down a path that would lead to their destruction?
We all long for love — yes — but we also long for justice. And real love doesn’t erase justice. It fulfills it. That’s what the cross is. Not a soft shrug at our sin, but a full payment — made out of love, by love, for you and me.
So here’s a question for you:
What version of love have you believed?
Is it the kind that only affirms you? Or the kind that transforms you?
So as we hit this great big monumental day, day 200, (or July 19th if you want to be less cool), let’s not just admire the gospel. Let’s surrender to it.
It’s crazy to me how personal this is. Jesus didn’t just die for “the world”— He died for you. Isn’t that wild to think about? Someone shed blood for YOU. Jesus knew and knows your name. He saw and sees your sin. And He went to the cross anyway. He died for you.
That is crazy difficult for me to wrap my head around. Frankly I’m not worth dying for, but Jesus says otherwise. What a blessing to get to know Him who died for my salvation.
And if you don’t know this salvation, if you don’t know Love. Maybe today is your day. Let’s pray.
