In this life, people will betray you. If you live long enough, people will hurt you; those you love will pass into eternity; those you care about will suffer greatly for reasons that feel unfair and unjust. In spite of the pain and tragedy we might endure, there is a constant, immutable fact: God loves you. This fact is true of every person who ever lived and ever will live. There is no evil so great, no hardship so difficult that God's love cannot reach down to it.
God's love is not a feeling, it is a fact. It is true whether we feel it or not, it is true whether we see it or not, it is true whether we believe in it or not. Even when God feels distant to us, His love is always near.
And how do we know God loves us? His Word says so.
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First of all, He thinks about you.
Psalm 33:13-15 - The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works. |
He knows the hairs on your head.
Matthew 10:20-30 - Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
He knows when you stand up and sit down.
Psalm 139:1-2a - O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising…
He understands all your thoughts.
Psalm 139:2b - “…thou understandest my thought afar off."
He knows altogether every word you speak.
Psalm 139:3-4 - Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
He ponders all your goings.
Proverbs 5:21 - For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
He brings every work and secret thing into judgment.
Ecclesiastes 12:14 - For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
This is truly something to ponder! The God of the universe thinks about us; knows everything about us; sees every thought, action, and secret thing.
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Secondly, He values you.
Matthew 10:29-31 - Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. |
You are more valuable than many sparrows.
Matthew 10:31 - Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
He has crowned you with glory and honour.
Psalm 8:5 - For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
He has given you promises.
A. The promise of salvation to all who call on Christ.
Romans 10:13 - For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
B. The promise of the ability to repent.
2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
C. The promise of His grace in this life.
Matthew 5:45 - That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
D. The promise of His second coming.
Revelation 1:7 - Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
E. And many more...
He formed you in your mother's womb (your body, personality, mind, soul, etc).
Psalm 139:13-14 - For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Even your disabilities were crafted by God.
Exodus 4:11 - And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?
You were formed by God: your looks, your personality, even your disabilities were crafted by God for a specific purpose, and He finds great value in you. We live in a corrupt world; sin has brought great destruction and it has strayed far from God's initial, perfect creation. However, if God finds value in us, I think we would be wise to find value in ourselves, as well as in others. Any person who is bullied, belittled, teased, mocked, ridiculed, etc. is a person that God made and formed in their mothers womb. God values everyone and we should, too.
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Thirdly, He loved you even before you loved Him.
I John 4:10 - Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. |
Even when we blasphemed Him, sinned against Him, and were an abomination to Him, He loved us. I can't help but think of the famous song:
“The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell."
This kind of love speaks to the greatness of our God.
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Fourthly, He empathizes with you in all of your joy and pain.
Hebrews 4:15 - For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. |
Anything you go through, He has already gone through. He can feel what you feel, because He felt what you felt when He came to earth to suffer in your place.
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Fifthly, He is merciful to you.
Lamentations 3:22-23 - It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. |
We truly cannot fathom the wretchedness and vileness of our sin. It is detestable and deplorable to God. Over 100 times He uses the word abomination to describe it. Yet, he is merciful to us. If justice were to be carried out this moment, we would be consumed. Romans 3:19 says, “...all the world [is] guilty before God.” Every breath we breathe, every morning we wake up, every word we speak is a testament to the mercy of God.
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Lastly, He gave His son for you.
I John 4:10 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. |
God gave His only Son, Jesus, to be the payment for our sins. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus, the Son of God, is God in the flesh. God gave up His own life on the cross, so that we may have eternal life through Him. He offers by grace complete forgiveness to any person who puts their faith in His Son. Your salvation has been paid in full by Christ Jesus.
If you would like to place your faith in Him today, I would encourage you to watch this short video explaining how you can do exactly that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iutMPe6I7M&ab_channel=Truth4you
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Final Thoughts
Some will contend that Psalm 11:5 (“...him that loveth violence his soul hateth.”), Psalm 5:5 (“...thou hatest all workers of iniquity."), and Malachi 1:2-3 (“...yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.") contradict and cancel out all the passages that teach that God loves the whole world. I would simply reply that God is not contradicting Himself at all. He does love the whole world. His love, grace, and mercy are amply extended to all people, regardless of race, gender, or background. These verses doctrinally apply in the contexts of fellowship, blessing, and comparison. We cannot curse God and be in a place of blessing, we cannot disobey God and enjoy close fellowship; and when a person chooses to identify with their sin, they suffer the consequences of that association.
Just as the Bible says “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14) and “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Matt. 22:39) without contradiction, so I John 4:10 and Psalm 5:5 can coexist without contradiction. (The word "hate" is often used as a comparison word. In other words, a person's love for Christ should be so great, that their love of family seems like hate in comparison.)
So, in conclusion, God loves you; He cares about you; He gave His son for you. No matter what you may be going through, take a moment to rest in His perfect love.
I will leave you with a final question: If God can love us this greatly, can't we learn to love each other?
John 5:12 - This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. |
The Love of God
Frederick Martin Lehman
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell.
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled
And pardoned from his sin.
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
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