I love my grandchildren. But they don't always do things that please me. If I love them, it's because I choose to love them. If God loves me, it's not because there is in me something innate to my being that God finds acceptable to Him, in fact, just the opposite. Over and over again the Bible says there is none that does anything good, no, not one.
There's none who does not sin, no, not one. All right. If God is love, and I am unlovely, then I can't say that He loves me because of what's in me. I have to say He loves me because of what's in Him. God loves me because it is the character of God to love. God does not promise He will fix our problems in the immediate sense. We will experience pain and suffering and sorrow. But He does promise that one day, everyone who has a relationship with Him will spend eternity in His presence, where suffering and sorrow will be gone forever.
God hurts when you hurt because He loves you. He is always there to comfort you with His unfailing love as you bring your struggles to Him. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.
Lamentations Even if you are in the midst of a difficult time or are grieving a great loss , there is still reason for hope. Ask God to give you hope because of His never-ending love. Ask Him to fill you with His peace that is more powerful than all of the hard things in your life.
Though He brings grief, He also shows compassion because of the greatness of His unfailing love. For He does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow. When you experience difficult things or see suffering in the world, you may be tempted to think God dislikes you or that He enjoys seeing some people suffer. This is not true. God created a beautiful, perfect world, but people brought imperfection into it.
God is hurt when He sees how much people suffer. He has allowed people to make a mess of the world for a period of time, but He will not leave it that way forever. God will make things right again because He is compassionate and loving. Jesus knew that the Father had given Him authority over everything and that He had come from God and would return to God. So He got up from the table, took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, and poured water into a basin.
Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. On His last night with His disciples before He was crucified, Jesus emphasized loving others. So their feet were much, much dirtier. Washing feet was usually the job of a lowly servant. But He showed His disciples He loved them by stepping down from His position of power to take on the role of a lowly servant. God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him.
This is real love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us. When we love each other, it gives people a glimpse of God because God is love. It can be difficult for people to understand God, but when we love others in His name, they experience a taste of His love. Sadly, sometimes Christians are known more for judgment than for love. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
There is no law against these things! Galatians His Spirit also allows you to love with a love greater than you could have on your own. He wants to have a loving relationship with you forever. Below are some longer Bible passages on this theme. As you read these verses, think about how they inspire you in your relationship with God.
Then let the love of God inspire you to act. There are many ways to do this, and below the verses are some suggestions of things you can do. Discover how you can have a personal relationship with the God who loves you.
Find out how to know God personally. Memorize a few of these verses and repeat them to yourself when you are feeling far from God. If you believe that God loves you, how does it influence the way you live? Do you believe your Father, who loves you dearly, is the most powerful force in the universe? What would look different in your life if you lived in light of this truth?
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His love continues even if we do not deserve it. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. God sacrificed His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for the penalty of our sins by dying on the cross. If even before this sacrifice—when we were still sinners—He already loved us Romans , how much after our redemption? For sure, the Lord would not put to waste the sacrifice of His Son by unloving us.
Moreover, we are represented by Christ before Him. Instead of seeing the filthy sins, God sees His beloved Son in those who believe in Him. Through faith, we are now part of the special family He has chosen for Himself—the seeds of Abraham. However, due to their stubbornness and unwillingness to receive Jesus Christ as their King, God extended the invitation to salvation to the rest of the world.
Please understand that God does not look at the race or religion of a person. What He is after is their faith and willingness to obey His commands.
Another reason why God loves us is His mercy. Since He is merciful, He treats us with grace instead of punishing us for our unrighteousness.
This is the very reason why He sent Christ to die on our behalf. He knew that if we would pay for our own sins, there would be no other chance at life since the penalty for sin is eternal death Romans This truth should be a realization to all Christians that we have nothing to boast about before God. We can never be righteous in front of Him through our own efforts because we still sin.
It is only because of His mercy that He keeps caring for us. That is why we must be humble. As His creations and children, we are called to obey His commands. That is also the proof that we love Him. And His commandments are not burdensome. Photo by jeffjacobs Some people who lost their loved ones, either through death or separation, find strength in the assurance that God loves them.
So, what are the reasons why God does love us? Let the Bible tell you why.
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