Does God really love me? - Pastor H. Al Sims, Jr

Pastor H. Al Sims, Jr.

SenioR PaStoR of BetheSDa ChuRCh of GoD, SumteR, SC

Does God really love me?

Does God really love me? If He does, why? Many people struggle with feelings like no one really loves them, no one really cares. It is hard to fathom that almighty God would have time for us and take time to actually care for us. Think about it, the God of all creation, the entire universe genuinely wants to interact and love a lowly human. The Psalmist David posed that same question in Psalms 8:4 when he asked, “What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him”? The Bible makes a bold declaration in I John 4:16 that God is love. So again, I ask does God really love me? The word love in our English language has a broad range of meanings but for this article I would like to offer the definition of the Greek word in I John 4:16. Agape is the Greek word used and it means affection or benevolence, dear. So, if indeed God is love why should one believe He really loves them? I’ve heard this all my life that words are cheap, actions speak louder than words. So, what actions has God taken to prove He loves us? Well to understand God’s love we may have to try to compare to something and so or this article let us compare to human love. Humans express love by kind words, giving gifts, caring for the needs of someone, caressing and many other expressions that could be listed. God gave these beautiful words in Isaiah 54:10 “Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken,” and in Romans 5:8 “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. God is the ultimate gift giver. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and gave it to man to have dominion over it all. Amazing flowers and trees, animals and insects of all sorts, mountains and valleys, rivers and oceans, sun moon and stars, a smorgasbord of foods to please even the pickiest of eaters, and the list could go on and on. All of that sounds awesome but then God gave the ultimate gift by giving His only begotten son Jesus to be the sacrifice for our sins. His perfect unblemished son for sinful humans. Because of that gift we can pass from the corruption of sin to eternal life, from brokenness to wholeness and hopelessness to hopefulness. Then God shows His love by caring for us. The Bible says in I Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you. You see he takes note of even a sparrow falling from the air and His word says we are of much greater value than a sparrow. The Bible says that God knows how many hairs we have on our head and he takes note of our standing up and sitting down. When someone is that mindful of another, I would have to say that is love! Lastly, God expresses his love to us by caressing us. His word declares that He holds us in His hand; that His arm is not short that He cannot reach us in our time of need. He speaks words of comfort and peace and keeps His eye on us. He even has angels around us to keep us from stumping our toes. I would like to emphatically state that yes indeed God does love you! Since he loves us in such marvelous fashion, we have nothing to fear. He is able to keep that which is committed unto him according to 2 Timothy 1:12