Micah 7:18 NASB95
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love.
There are so many verses in the Bible that give us insight into the heart of God, and this is one of them. It doesn’t just say that God’s love is unchanging or unending; it says that he DELIGHTS in unchanging love. The word “delight” means “to take great pleasure in.” God takes great pleasure in loving you. He doesn’t just take great pleasure in loving you when you are behaving; his great pleasure in loving you is unchanging regardless of what you do or don’t do. In this remarkable verse, there is an acknowledgment that iniquities have to be pardoned and rebellious acts passed over. In other words, it acknowledges that we aren’t always perfect. It even says that God can get angry, but the verse concludes by declaring that no matter what, God takes great pleasure in loving you. Humans can love each other, and even stay committed to their love, but human beings have a tendency only to take great pleasure in their love for you when your behavior matches their expectations. God knows everything about us, even better than we know ourselves, but he absolutely delights in loving us even in those times we grieve his heart. God is so grateful that you are his to love, and he delights at all times in the joy of loving you. When there are things in our lives that are in the process of being transformed, God doesn’t wait for maturity to emerge to delight in loving you. He delights in loving us even during the process of changing us. He steps into our darkest places to heal and transform us with great delight in his heart toward us, no matter how many times he has had to address the same issue. He simply never stops taking great pleasure in loving us.