But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Romans 5:8 NKJV  

God’s love is extended to us even in the midst of our sin.  

It’s easy to think challenging or painful circumstances in our lives are God’s way of punishing us for our sin. This thought pattern, however, is untrue and unbiblical. God loved us so much, in spite of our sin, that Christ died for us before we ever acknowledged him. He knew we could (and many would) reject him, but he chose to love and serve us anyway, dying a brutal death on the cross and defeating death through his resurrection to bring us eternal life (Romans 6:23). It was his everlasting love that drove him to lay down his life for us, despite our sin and potential rejection of him. 

We often fear repercussions or consequences of our sin, or often think God is punishing us because of what we’ve done. While sin still has consequences and God still chastises those he loves, we do not have to fear his judgment or punishment for our sins because Jesus already paid for them with his life. If we have received his salvation by faith (Romans 10:9), we can trust that we have a clean standing with God. What we must do is live a life that honors him, so that when we stand before him and our good actions are rewarded, we may receive many crowns to give back to him in honor.  

If we can trust God with our eternal destiny, we can certainly trust that he’ll keep and sustain us until the day he returns and calls us to himself (2 Timothy 1:12). May each of us live in earnest expectation of his return, trust in his work on the cross to save us, live in freedom from fear of punishment, and rejoice that he cares deeply for his children.