Bible Verses for Reckless Love

Is God's love reckless? There have been several songs lately that talk about God's reckless love, notably the recent Bethel song, Reckless Love. The definition of reckless is "without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action" and it's synonyms are "rash, careless, thoughtless, heedless, unheeding, hasty, impulsive, irresponsible, foolhardy, audacious, imprudent, unwise." 

So are the authors saying that God is foolhardy, unwise, or careless in His love? It definitely does not seem so. In the song, there is evidence of God planning to save us (and the Bible definitely shows that God's plan for our salvation was planned "before the foundation of the world" - Revelation 13:8). So God's love for us was not "without thinking... about the consequences," but I do suggest that it was "without caring about the consequences." God gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16), perfect and without sin (2 Cor. 5:21), to save a sinful and rebellious people who weren't even seeking God (Rom. 3:11).  

In fact, the cross of Christ and His crucifixion are noted as being foolish in the eyes of the world in 1 Corinthians 1:18, 23. God's love is reckless in that He counts the cost of His love and pursues us anyway. Maybe reckless isn't the best word, but I'm at a loss to come up with another. If you can think of an adjective that shows that God's love knows the consequences and yet selflessly pushes ahead regardless of the cost, please mention it in the comments below.

In fact, author Cory Asbury wrote:

"When I use the phrase, “the reckless love of God”, I’m not saying that God Himself is reckless. I am, however, saying that the way He loves, is in many regards, quite so. What I mean is this: He is utterly unconcerned with the consequences of His actions with regards to His own safety, comfort, and well-being. His love isn’t crafty or slick. It’s not cunning or shrewd. In fact, all things considered, it’s quite childlike, and might I even suggest, sometimes downright ridiculous. His love bankrupted heaven for you. His love doesn’t consider Himself first. His love isn’t selfish or self-serving. He doesn’t wonder what He’ll gain or lose by putting Himself out there."

Still not comfortable calling God's love reckless? I totally get it. The word reckless is so strongly tied to being impulsive and unwise, yet those thoughts are so incongruous with God's character. You can try changing reckless to something else. Selfless, maybe. Or find another song about God's love to sing. I highly recommend The Love of God or How Deep the Father's Love For Us. 

Reckless Love

by Caleb Culver, Cory Asbury, Ran Jackson

Verse 1:

Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me

Speaking of God's people in Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

You have been so, so good to me

Psalm 13:6 (NLT) I will sing to the LORD because He is good to me.

Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me

Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

You have been so, so kind to me

Psalms 117:2 For His lovingkindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord!

Chorus:

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Ephesians 3:19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Jeremiah 31:3 The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”

Romans 5:7-8 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine

Jesus said in Luke 15:3-7 So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Galatians 2:16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Verse 1:

When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me

You have been so, so good to me

Romans 5:8, 10 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us... For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me

You have been so, so kind to me

Ephesians 2:3-4 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.

Chorus:

And oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine

And I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Titus 3:4-7 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Bridge:

There's no shadow You won't light up

Mountain You won't climb up

Coming after me

There's no wall You won't kick down

Lie You won't tear down

Coming after me

Jesus said in Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Psalm 23:1 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. 

John 4:23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 

Chorus:

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine

And I couldn't earn it, I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Jesus said in Matthew 18:12-14 “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”