When we ask young people why they believe in God or attend church, we often hear responses like:
"I don’t know"
"I grew up in church"
"I like my friends here"
"My parents made me come"
While these answers explain why someone might be present at church, they are not reasons—they are causes. Understanding the difference between cause and reason is critical for building a strong, personal faith. Today, we explore the true reason we should love Jesus and believe in God, rooted in the profound love demonstrated through Christ’s sacrifice, as described in Romans 5:6-9.
First, it is crucial to distinguish between causes and reasons. What is a Cause?
A cause is something that makes an event or action happen. For example:
Overeating causes weight gain
Causing my hands to move a microphone
Attending church because your parents made you do it
These are causes, not reasons. It explains why you are at church, but not why you believe.
If your presence at church or your belief in God relies solely on external factors—such as family tradition or friends—your faith may weaken when those factors fade away. For instance, if your family stops attending church or your friends depart, your belief might waver because it lacks a personal foundation.
Then, what is a Reason?
A reason involves thought, understanding, and a decision from the heart. It provides a motive or explanation for why you believe or act. For example:
- The cause of weight gain is overeating, but the reason is that excess energy is stored as fat.
- The cause of moving a microphone is a physical action, but the reason might be to ensure everyone can hear clearly.
When it comes to faith, a reason involves a deliberate choice based on understanding and conviction. Without an apparent reason for believing in God, our faith can weaken when faced with challenges, temptations, or changing circumstances.
What is your reason for believing in God and attending church? If you don’t have a clear reason for your belief in God—and only have causes—your faith will be weak. Without a clear reason, you may lose your faith as you grow older and as circumstances change. When someone challenges your faith, you may give it up because you never understood the reason. When temptations to sin and engage in evil actions arise, you may lose faith because you never had a clear reason. If we don’t have a clear reason, your faith will slowly wither away until it completely perishes, leaving nothing but judgment and hell that awaits those without God.
Then, what should be our reason for believing in God? Read verse 8: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
First, we must believe in God because He demonstrated the greatest love for us by allowing Jesus Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Jesus took our punishment. The greatest love one can ever show is the willingness to lay down one’s life for the person they love. The greatest display of love isn’t just buying someone flowers or merely saying “I love you.” Rather, it is when a person is willing to die for the one they love. If someone is ready to give up their life for the person they cherish, it means they love that person so deeply that they consider others’ lives more important than their own. That is what Christ did for you and me.
Second, we must believe in God because, despite the ugliness of our sins, Christ reached out His hands to us. From the very beginning—from the moment we are born—our hearts are inclined to be selfish, inclined to be against God, inclined not to be loving, and inclined not to want to believe and follow God. That is the condition we are in. Everything is about me; everything is about what I want and how I feel, with no regard or concern for others. Sin makes us love only ourselves. The difficult reality is that sin makes us unlovable to God. Sin makes us appear disgusting in God’s view, and if we don’t address the problems of our sin, nothing but judgment awaits us.
But this is where the good news comes—and this is where the heart of our REASON comes in—read verse 8 again: “8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Remember, the greatest love anyone can show is that they are willing to die for someone they love. Jesus himself even said, “there is no greater love, than someone laying down his life for his friends.” But we weren’t even Jesus’ friends—God had no reason to love us.
But what do you notice about the timing of Christ’s death? It wasn’t after we did something about our sin or our ugliness—it was while we were still sinners. Scriptures testify that God showed you and me the greatest love—even though we were absolutely unlovable—by willingly laying down His life for us. This love is far greater than that of a married couple or even our parents, because this is the love that comes from God himself. When the time was right, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus stepped into our time and history to send His son, Jesus Christ. Out of His love for the Father and His great love for us, He died on the cross for our sins. What Jesus Christ did on the cross is the ultimate proof and demonstration of God’s love for you. But we didn’t do anything to deserve it – we don’t deserve such love. We must pay attention to the kinds of words Scripture uses to describe our condition: weak, ungodly, sinners. We had no merit or goodness to deserve it, but God gives it freely out of His grace and mercy that He has for you.
Reading verse 9 – “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” – the sacrifice of Jesus and his blood shed on the cross reveals the greatest display of God’s love for us. Our sins are forgiven, and we are no longer God’s enemies but His precious children. He will make us lovable and strengthen us to love others, just as He loved us. The Holy Spirit, who dwells in our hearts, will give us the courage and strength to love God and our neighbors.
So, we return to my question – What is your reason for believing in God? Why do you attend church?
My reason is that I believe in God because He showed us the greatest love by sending His son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. Even when we did nothing to deserve such love and were unlovable, God freely poured His grace upon us. Therefore, out of a thankful and grateful heart, I believe in Him, love Him, and live my entire life for Him. That’s my reason.
What is your reason, guys? The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is your reason; the forgiveness of sins is your reason; the healing of our broken relationship with God is your reason; the joy of being in a personal and saving relationship with Jesus is your reason.
