This Is How Much God Loves You
By Rick Warren
“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.” 1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)
Everything in life changes—relationships, jobs, health, finances. But there’s one thing in the universe that will never change: God’s love.
God loves you, no matter what. Your failures, your brokenness, and your sin can never diminish his love. Knowing you can count on God's love provides a rock-solid foundation for your life.
The Bible’s most famous verse, John 3:16, says, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (NIV).
Consider the small word “so” that goes before “loved” in that verse. “So” suggests the extravagance of God’s love. God loves you with a generous, extravagant love that can never be taken away. It’s beyond comprehension. He loves you on your good days and your bad days. He loves you when you sin and when you are faithful to him.
It's important that you don't just recognize this lavish love intellectually. You need to recognize it emotionally, to really understand it deep down in your spirit. Love is God’s nature. God created the universe and everything in it just so that he could love it. And God created you so he could love you.
In fact, in Jesus, God shows what real love, his love, looks like. The Bible says, “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” (1 John 4:9-10 NLT).
Many people say they love you. But God showed you how much he loves you. He loves you so much that it hurt. He sacrificed his Son. When Jesus died for you, he was saying he loved you so much he’d rather die than live without you.
The Bible says that’s what real love—the kind of love that you can build your life on—looks like. Real love makes sacrifices. Real love gives all. Real love endures for all eternity.
That’s the kind of love only God has for you. He’s waiting with open arms to show you his goodness, mercy, and love.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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