Special Edition: Chesed: Living Out the Covenant Love of God
Blog Series Intention Recap
When you ask someone what they think about the church, be prepared for any response. What they say may inspire feelings of anger, sadness, joy, or hope, depending on what they have experienced in their dealings with believers. This five-week series explores five congregational values that should define our relationships with those inside and outside the church. When we fulfill our biblical call to the four C’s—commission, community, commandment, and collaboration—we can be the church that glorifies Jesus.
This post is the main page of the series “Our House.” Click here to see the rest of the posts.
Let’s jump into this Special Edition:
Chesed – The Covenant Love of God… In Psalm 136:26, we are reminded of God's steadfast love—His chesed—a covenantal love that is loyal, merciful, and unchanging. This week, we explore how God's chesed shapes the way we relate to one another and how we, as recipients of this love, are called to extend it to others. Chesed is not just a theological concept; it is a living, active love that transforms relationships and fuels our mission to love others. As we reflect on God’s chesed—His loyal, faithful love toward us—we are challenged to extend that same love to others. This week, let's ask God to help us embody His covenantal love in our relationships, both inside and outside the church. By doing so, we become a living testimony to the world of God’s unbreakable love and faithfulness.
Why it Matters:
Understanding Chesed: Chesed is God’s covenantal love, marked by loyalty, mercy, and compassion.
God’s Faithfulness to His Covenant: God’s love is not based on our actions but on His faithfulness to His promises.
Embodying Chesed in Our Relationships: As recipients of God's love, we are called to reflect it in our interactions with others, demonstrating grace, mercy, and loyalty.
Chesed and the Mission of the Church: Extending God’s chesed to others is essential for fulfilling the church’s mission to love and serve the world.
Go Deeper:
One of the most beautiful and powerful aspects of God's character is His love—specifically, the concept of chesed. This Hebrew word is often translated as “steadfast love” or “lovingkindness,” but its meaning goes much deeper. Chesed refers to the covenantal love of God, a love that is loyal, merciful, and unchanging. It is the love that God shows His people regardless of their circumstances, a love that is rooted in His faithfulness to His promises.
Psalm 136:26 says, “Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His steadfast love endures forever.” The word used here for “steadfast love” is chesed—God’s faithful, loyal, and unconditional love. In this special week, we explore the richness of God’s chesed and how it should shape the way we relate to others, both inside the church and beyond. As recipients of this unbreakable love, we are called to reflect it in our own lives, becoming instruments of God’s grace and mercy in the world.
Understanding Chesed
The concept of chesed appears frequently throughout Scripture, especially in the Psalms. It is a love that is not simply a feeling but a committed, active choice to remain faithful to a covenant. God’s chesed is unconditional—it does not depend on our actions, but on God’s own character and His commitment to His promises. This is what makes God's love so powerful and transformative: it is not based on our ability to earn it or deserve it but on God's unchanging nature.
In Exodus 34:6, God reveals Himself to Moses, saying, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love (chesed) and faithfulness.” This self-description underscores the depth and richness of God’s love. It is full of mercy, grace, and faithfulness. Chesed is not a passive love but an active one that moves God to act on behalf of His people. It is a love that pursues, protects, and redeems.
This loyal, faithful love of God is what sustains us, even when we fail. God’s chesed is a covenantal love that cannot be broken. Even when we are unfaithful, God remains faithful to His promises. As Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.” This is the foundation of our hope as believers: God’s love for us is unshakeable and unchanging.
God’s Faithfulness to His Covenant
God’s love is a covenantal love, meaning that it is tied to the promises He makes with His people. In the Old Testament, God established covenants with His people, from His covenant with Noah to His covenant with Israel through Moses, to His eternal covenant through Jesus Christ. Each of these covenants is an expression of God’s chesed—His commitment to His people, even when they fall short of their end of the bargain.
The beauty of God’s covenant love is that it is not dependent on our faithfulness but on His. In Deuteronomy 7:9, Moses reminds the people of Israel: “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love (chesed) with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” God’s chesed is a love that is rooted in His character, and He will never break His promises. This faithfulness is the source of our hope and security.
In the New Testament, God’s covenantal love is most clearly demonstrated through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are the ultimate expression of God’s chesed. Through Christ, we are brought into the new covenant, a covenant sealed by His blood that offers forgiveness, grace, and eternal life. Jesus is the fulfillment of God's covenant love, and through Him, we experience the fullness of God's loyal, faithful love.
Embodying Chesed in Our Relationships
As recipients of God’s chesed, we are called to reflect this love in our relationships with others. Just as God’s love is loyal, merciful, and unchanging, so too should our love be for those around us. The Bible teaches that we are to love others as God has loved us. In John 13:34–35, Jesus commands His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Chesed calls us to love with grace and mercy, even when it is difficult. It is a love that seeks the good of others, that forgives wrongs, and that shows kindness to those in need. In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), Jesus teaches that loving our neighbor means showing compassion and meeting their needs, regardless of their background or circumstances.
As Christians, we are called to be ambassadors of God’s chesed, demonstrating His loyal love to those around us. This love is not conditional; it does not depend on whether others deserve it. Instead, it is rooted in God’s love for us, a love that we are commanded to extend to others. This means forgiving those who have wronged us, serving those who are in need, and loving those who are difficult to love.
Chesed and the Mission of the Church
Extending God’s chesed to others is central to the mission of the church. The church is called to be a community of love, a place where God’s covenantal love is experienced and shared with the world. As we embody God’s love in our relationships, we become a living testimony to the world of God’s faithfulness and mercy.
In Matthew 28:19–20, Jesus gives the Great Commission to His disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” The church’s mission is to spread the message of God’s love to the ends of the earth. But this mission cannot be accomplished without love. As 1 Corinthians 13:1–3 teaches, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Love is the foundation of the church’s mission. It is the love of God—His chesed—that compels us to go into the world and make disciples.
As we reflect on God’s chesed, we are reminded that our mission is to love as He has loved us. This means showing mercy, extending grace, and forgiving others, just as God has shown us. When we live out God’s love, we not only fulfill our mission but also reflect the very heart of God to a watching world.
How does this help me understand, “Our House?”
Reflecting God’s Chesed
As we conclude this week’s reflection on God’s chesed, let’s take time to reflect on how we can embody His covenantal love in our own lives. God’s love for us is unchanging and unbreakable, and as recipients of this love, we are called to reflect it to others. Whether in our relationships with fellow believers, our families, or those outside the church, we are to love with the same loyal, merciful, and selfless love that God has shown us.
Let’s commit this week to extending God’s chesed to others—loving them with grace, patience, and forgiveness. By doing so, we become a living testimony to the world of God’s faithful and unchanging love.
