“For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” —John 3:16
The battle rages over the souls of men, and while Satan lures us with lies, God lures us with love. God’s ultimate motivation towards His people is always love. This love is not limited to a few choice souls or to a few distinct groups, rather His gift of love is given for the whole world.
“The essential fact of Christianity is that God thought all men worth the sacrifice of His Son.” —William Barclay
God delights in us and it is His desire for this delight to be evident to others as well. The prophet Zephaniah tells us:
“The LORD your God is in your midst; he is a warrior who can deliver. He takes great delight in you; he renews you by his love; he shouts for joy over you.” —Zephaniah 3:17
Paul tells us:
“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” —Romans 5:6-8
God loves us—we must let the truth of these precious words resonate in our weary souls—impress them upon our hearts and our minds. Indeed, God loves us! Even when we were His enemies, He loved us so much that He gave us His one and only Son that those who believe in Him will not perish but experience life in abundance both now and forevermore.
“If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God. And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him.” —1 John 4:15–16
Unfortunately, many people go through life feeling unloved—and unlovable. No matter the reason, your feelings aren’t telling you the truth! God loves you, and if you begin to see yourself the way God sees you, your attitudes will begin to change. If He didn’t love you, would Jesus have been willing to die for you? Very probably not, but He did! The Bible says, “By this we know love: that Jesus laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16).
God loves you. Hammer that truth into your head and mind every day. It will make all the difference.” —Billy Graham
Become More
“I was the enemy of God. I was stamping through God’s universe, shaking my fist in His face. And in the very moment when I was shaking my fist in God’s face and tramping through the Creator’s universe, muddying all His streams, that’s when Jesus died for me. And if this is when Jesus died for me, what hope it gives me now! Now, even when I fall, the blood of Jesus is enough. He didn’t save me because I was strong; He saved me when I was weak. He didn’t save me when I was a pretty thing; He saved me when I was a mess. On the basis of this reality, I can have comfort.” —Francis Schaeffer, The Finished Work of Christ
Further Reflections
“What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things?” —Romans 8:31–32
“The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved.” —Victor Hugo