Reckless Love
Cory Asbury
A pursuit-of-God worship anthem rooted in the parable of the lost sheep
Weighed against scripture
“What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.”
The entire song is built on this parable. Leaving the ninety-nine to find the one is the structural and emotional core of the lyrics.
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The song's insistence that nothing stops God's pursuit mirrors Paul's declaration that nothing in creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ.
“We love him, because he first loved us.”
The song frames love as entirely initiated by God, not earned by the listener, which is exactly the logic of this verse: we love because he first loved us.
'Reckless Love' meditates on the pursuing, costly love of God, drawing heavily on Luke 15 and the image of a shepherd who refuses to stop searching. The repeated refrain is designed to settle into a worshipper's chest as an anchor for identity: you are the one being sought. The theological word 'reckless' is the only real conversation starter here, and it's worth sitting with, though the song's overall direction is clearly toward reverence and gratitude.
Entirely free of profanity, violence, or sexual content. The language is devotional throughout, drawing on imagery of God chasing, climbing, and tearing down walls to reach the lost.
The song positions the listener as deeply loved and actively pursued by God. It cultivates humility (acknowledging unworthiness) alongside awe at grace. The word 'reckless' has sparked some theological debate, but Asbury has explained it describes how the love appears from a human vantage point, not a flaw in God's character.
Written as congregational worship, the song's clear aim is to move listeners toward wonder at God's relentless love. Asbury roots it directly in Jesus's parable of the shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to find one.
When you sing that God's love is reckless, do you feel the weight of being the one He left ninety-nine to find, or has the song become familiar enough that the pursuit no longer surprises you?