Do you often forget that God loves you unconditionally? Are you often beset with a feeling of being unloved or unlovable? Have you ever entertained the thought of being unworthy of God’s love? Well, I am happy to inform you that you are not alone. I am glad to let you know that God’s love for you is unequivocally boundless. He loves you despite of your feelings. In this blogpost, I compile a list of my go-to songs whenever I need to be reminded of God’s love for me. I should mention, however, that listening to these songs does not take away the place of prayer and the affirmation you get from reading God’s words. In fact, these songs usually lead me to the place of prayer and I hope they do the same for you. Also, the subject of love can be thought of in various ways but, for this purpose of this blogpost, I am focusing only on songs that are about being at the receiving end of God’s love. Lastly, there are usually many versions of one song but, in this blogpost, I provide a link to my favorite version of each song.
- The Love of God by the Gaither Vocal Band
This song is a common Sunday hymn in most churches. It is always so powerful and refreshing to listen to. It reminds me that the love of God for me is measureless and indescribable – even Shakespeare would be incapable of putting it into words. One of the finest lines of the song states that “to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry”. It also states that the love of God is the “redeeming grace to Adam’s race”. I pray that as you listen to this song, your eyes will be opened to the depth and breadth of the savior’s love for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqbqjX2KRyY
2. Your Love Never Fails by Chris Quilala/Jesus Culture
There is a vulnerability in Quilala’s voice that gets to me every time. I have followed his life’s story a little bit and I can tell that he means every single word he sings. Despite its heavy instrumentals, this song reminds me that when everything else fails, God’s love remains. Even when I fail myself, God’s love stays unchanging. The first line of the song reminds me of Psalm 139:7-8: I can never run away from God’s love because His love is the kind that zealously pursues me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoezWBPGRAc
3. Furious by Jeremy Riddle/Bethel music
Jeremy Riddle is an anointed singer, and I appreciate the picture of God’s love that this song paints. We usually have this tender and sweet image of God’s love, but this song reminds us of the tenacious grip of God’s love over us. It states that “nothing can tear us from the grip of His mighty love”. There is nothing we have done – or can do – to undo God’s love. God’s love is sweet and tender, but also fierce and furious; it wakes many hearts to life. The fierce love of God awakens us from our loveless slumber. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcVFdMbUztg
4. Lettered Love by Hillsong Worship
This song is very special; its words are so poetic and heartfelt. Its main point is that the Bible is God’s love letter to us. God’s Word is His lettered love that shapes the life of Bible-believing Christians. The song is a plea to God. The writer is asking God to make him/her understand what “love paid for” . The song ends with a prayer that states: “ Lord have this broken heart/ For this broken heart is paid for/ And shaped by the truth of Your Word/ This lettered love Has written my story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP-Pcz7OHgk
5. Good and Loved by Travis Greene and Steffany Gretzinger
I have lost count of the number of times I have listened to this song. In fact, as I type this words, the lyrics of the songs are hitting me again like thunder. On behalf of the church, the Bride of Christ, I say thank God for the gift of Travis and Steffany. This song has helped me to get through depression on countless occasions. Maybe the secret of the song is in the way Travis and Steffany impersonate the voice of God; hence the idea is to listen to the song as if God is directly speaking to you. This is what God says in the song: “There’ll be times when you’re up/ And times when you’re down/ I’m never too far/Just look around and you’ll find Me/I’m by your side, arms open wide/ I am good, you are loved”. It is that last line, “I am good, you are loved” that brings shrills to my spine all the time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DefL-oJpjo8
6. You Say by Lauren Daigle
It’s hard to imagine this song being sung by someone else; Lauren Daigle’s mellifluous voice and smooth tone will make you break down in tears as your eyes become open to the essence of love. I am not too surprised that this song has gained so much popularity in the mainstream media. Who doesn’t desire a supernatural love? Who doesn’t fight voices in their head telling them they are not enough? Who doesn’t struggle with impostor’s syndrome? Who doesn’t sometimes feel small, betrayed and confused? Daigle is telling you in this song that the only thing that really matters is not what the world tells you about yourself, but what God thinks of you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIaT8Jl2zpI
This is what God thinks and says about you:
You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And you say I am held when I am falling short
And when I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours
- 7. How He Loves Us by Peter Mattis/Bethel Music
Have you ever imagined the feistiness of a hurricane? That’s not even close to the way God loves you. When God loves, He goes all out. He loves jealously (yes, you heard that. He is a jealous lover, Exodus 34:14). God’s jealousy is motivated by love, it is a jealousy that comes from a place of profound, lavish and illogical love. The line that gets me most in the song is the one that says: “I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us”. Sometimes we get so caught up in our guilts and regrets that we forget that “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”(Romans 5:8). So, my friend, instead of dwelling too much on your fears and failures, dwell on God’s love for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L4FbKbyIeA
8. Lovin’ Me by Jonathan McReynolds
I don’t know any Jonathan McReynolds’ song that is not soul-stirring. In “Lovin’ Me”, he expresses his unreserved appreciation to God for loving him despite him being so unlovable. He goes on to say that there are days when he dislikes himself but, still, God loves him. He says that “there were days I looked at myself I felt like less of a person compared to everyone else” but when God looks at him, He sees His beloved son whom He died on the cross for. The song ends with these powerful lines:
Though I know I don’t have everything that it takes You keep lovin’ me
And regardless of every mistake that I make, You keep lovin’ me
And it probably don’t matter what I do or say, You keep lovin’ me)
And even with the pimples on my face, You keep lovin’ me
Just in case you don’t know, this song inspired the famous quote: “when others are throwing shade, God’s Love will make you shine”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfyVeJ2OdQ
9. The Father’s Song Matt Redman
Most Christians would know Matt Redman for his hit song, “10,000 Reasons”, but I would argue that his most personal and probably heart-piercing song is “The Father’s Song”. Matt lost his biological father to suicide at the age of seven and suffered abuses from his step-father, but he never felt fatherless because God was(and still is) always there for him. God is always there for the fatherless, He is the father of the fatherless(Psalm 68:5). This song reminds us that the Father’s love is in the song He sings over us; it is His melody that makes our heart leap for joy. The Father’s love is “Heaven’s perfect mystery”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esapsbVXXsc
10. Your Love is Better Than Life by Newsboys
I started listening to Newsboys after seeing the movie, God’s Not Dead. “Your Love is Better Than Life” may not be my favorite of all their songs, but the song became more meaningful to me after I understood that it was inspired by Psalms 63:3. I like how the song conveys the confusion and frailties that often beset us (even) as Christians. But for the love of God, we would all be nothing but broken machines. But for the love of God, life would have been so meaningless, our daily activities would have been nothing but a mindless routine. The love of God breathes life into all we do; in fact, the love of God is better than life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TABWI4gxdhg
11. One Thing Remains by Chris Quilala/Jesus Culture
Again, there is something magnetic, vulnerable and convincing in Quilala’s voice. I find the lyrics of this song most unforgettable. The love of God is a fountain that never runs dry; it never fails, it never runs out on us. The love of God is constant through our trials and the different seasons we go through in life. More importantly, the love of God overshadows and outpowers every mountain we may face. The love of God is the one thing that always remains. GLORY!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_KXsMCJgBQ
12. Boundless Love by Ernie Haase and Signature Sound
I have been listening to the Signature Sound for over a decade now. I just enjoy their theatrics and amazing harmony. However, I have been hooked on “Boundless Love” since I heard it about seven years ago. This song has helped me out of dark seasons of lovelessness. The song reminds me that there is no friend, brother or parent who will love me the way Jesus does. Jesus loves me so much that He died for me. He proved His love for me through His death on Calvary. But that is not the end of the story. His love knows no boundaries– it is boundless. His love knows no end, it continues to eternity – it is endless. Knowing this gives me so much consolation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-zwCGJggp4
13. His Love is Relentless by Hillsong Worship
I like listening to this song in the morning because it is so full of energy, the kind of energy one needs to face a challenging day. This song reminds me that God’s love for me is relentless and it is why I refuse to give up on myself. It is why I refuse to give up on life. It is the bridge of the song that I like most. It reminds me that the love of God is full of light so much that it “tears through the veil of darkness” and “breaks every chain and sets us free” from all inhibitions. The love of God is not only relentless, it is liberating. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N9mCUsTap
14. Reckless Love by Cory Asbury
I know this song has attracted a lot of controversies because of the word “reckless”, but, in my opinion, those who criticize the song have not taken time to understand the spirit behind its composition. As Cory himself mentioned, the song is not saying that God is reckless, but the way he loves is, in many regards, quite so. If you read the story of the prodigal son carefully, you’ll understand that the love of God can indeed appear exuberant if not unrestrictedly radical. Even Jesus mentioned that the angels literally become ecstatic when a sinner repents (Luke 15:10). The love of God is illogical to the carnal mind. It is an absurdity to the scholarly mind. It is bankruptcy to the economist. But to a child of God, it is real, felt, known and experienced. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMjQxsfLFz
15. Written in Red by David Phelps/Gaither Vocal Band
This is my last but not least love song. It comes last precisely because David Phelps is my favorite singer/vocalist (my list of favorite things changes as quickly as a chameleon’s skin, but David Phelps voice remains the primus inter pares in my head). The harmony in the chorus gives me chills every time. The lyrics are deceptively simple, yet they powerfully convey the centrality of the theme of love in the story of the cross. The song depicts how, as blood was dripping from Jesus body on the cross, God was sending the world a signal of love. So, whenever I feel unloved, I remember how Jesus sent His love in “letters of crimson”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WjcOSV-8v0
You probably can tell by now that I am drawn to a song’s lyrics more than anything else. I think songs with great lyrics can help us understand theology better. Maybe you would even agree that– drawing from my list –I have an eclectic taste in music. Please drop your list of songs that remind you of God’s love in the comment section, I would love to check them out.
De Vine 