love

How Should a Christian Respond to a “Woke” Person?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

If you watch the news or read popular news sites or blogs, it’s evident that the Christian viewpoint is in the minority these days. 

Everywhere you turn, we see alternative and “woke” lifestyles prevailing. Most certainly, there are many more people involved in these behaviors than there were in previous years.

I believe many faith-filled believers in Christ are simply silent on the social issues facing us today. They would rather not speak up and face ridicule from others who are perhaps more vocal and adamant in their beliefs. I hate to admit it, but I often fall into this category myself. 

It is more important now than ever for Christians to make our beliefs and feelings known, as many of the individuals caught up in alternative (and often sinful) lifestyles are doing nothing more than experimenting because it is the popular thing to do. 

They may not have made a definitive choice to fully embrace the lifestyle they’re “trying out.”

If these people were to hear the truth from a believer who is armed with biblical knowledge, they could very well accept Christ into their lives and make positive life changes in the right direction.

So, how do we go about relating to others who are living a lifestyle that is perhaps so radically different from our own? These people could be our acquaintances, coworkers, or even our own family members.

First of all, we should pray for them. Ask God to show them the truth that’s only found in the Bible. Pray that God would bring others (including yourself) into their path who can lead them to repentance and a relationship with Christ.

Then, when we encounter someone who is obviously living a sinful lifestyle and who needs the love and acceptance of Jesus, the first thing we need to do is approach them with love. 

We’re all sinners and have all fallen short in God’s eyes. They haven’t committed sin that is any worse in His eyes than we haven’t also committed. 

The only difference is that we, as Christians, have accepted Jesus into our lives, repented of our sins, and asked for forgiveness.

Without showing the lost genuine love and care, it is doubtful that your words will have any meaningful impact on them.

If you have a more-than-passing relationship with someone, and if the circumstances are right, you might ask them how their relationship with God is. 

You may get any of several types of answers to your question. 

They may answer that they don’t believe in God, or that God is our Creator but isn’t involved in our everyday lives. Or, they may give you the new-age answer that God is a part of everything, including us human beings and even inanimate objects. 

It’s then up to you to explain how God created us, but that the human race fell to sin and now lives in a broken world. 

The most important part is to convey that Jesus died and was raised from the dead to bring us into a right relationship with God again. His suffering, death, and resurrection were necessary to pay the penalty for our sin.

Depending on your relationship with the person and how the conversation proceeds, you may be able to ask them if they’re ready to turn from their sins and make Jesus Lord of their life.

Or, you may sense that that’s as far as you’re getting with them during this interaction and just accept the fact that you’ve planted a seed that will hopefully come up later on.

Pray that God will put someone else in their lives to water the seed and watch it begin to sprout.

I believe that it is of the utmost importance that when you talk to people about the gospel that they understand that Jesus (as well as you) accepts them just the way they are. 

Tell them that they don’t have to be perfect for Jesus to be Lord of their life. They just have to turn everything over to Him and let Him take the reins of their life.

Once they do, he will prompt them to make changes in their lives as they surrender their will to His. Sometimes that happens immediately, and sometimes it takes a while.

As Christians, it is our responsibility to show the world the love of Jesus. 

We may not see immediate fruit from our efforts, but rest assured, planting seeds of love and hope in a lost person’s life is the first step toward their eventual acceptance of Christ.

Is Your Faith Legitimate?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Have you ever wondered if your faith in Jesus is legitimate? Oh sure, if you attempt to raise your child in a God-fearing home, you probably exhibit a healthy fear of God that your children pick up on.

It is one thing to show your children a God-honoring approach to the Almighty, but it is something else entirely to live this belief out in your private life when no one is around to judge you.

In these cases, it is often all too easy to let our faith slide and commit sin through unbelief and trying to handle our situations using our own efforts.

But God never wanted to handle all our problems on our own. He is our loving, caring Father, and wants to help us through the difficult situations of life. 

In fact, I would even go so far as to see He feels honored when we reach out for help, as this shows a level of trust and reliance that He deeply desires from His children.

However, we can just as easily stray from God when we try to figure out and handle all our problems on our own. We may think we have all the answers, especially if our current situation is similar to one we’ve encountered before.

In these situations, it’s easy for us to rely on our past experiences and successes to handle this problem by ourselves. 

After all, we may think we don’t need God, while waiting around for Him to come through when we can easily take care of our situation ourselves. 

The first way we can tell we’re not living by faith is making the mistake of trying to figure out and solve our problems by leaving God out of them. 

If we truly love Jesus and all that He’s done for us, it should be easy to turn immediately to Him when problems arise and place their outcome in His hands. 

Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for our good to those whose love God and are called according to His purpose. 

If we’ve accepted Christ into our lives, we can rest assured that His leading and guiding are directing our lives into a favorable direction. Somehow, someway, everything will work out to our advantage.

The second action that should signal to us that our faith is legitimate is when we remember to continually love Jesus when things don’t happen the way we want them to. 

That may sound simple, especially when things are going well, but it becomes much more difficult when we’re facing the trials and tribulations of life. 

If you got recently passed over for that big promotion you’ve been looking forward to, it may be hard to maintain a happy attitude toward your boss and especially the individual who was promoted in your place. 

In fact, it may be one of the hardest things you’ve ever done to put on a happy face and offer them congratulations. 

God calls us to celebrate the good fortune of those around us, so we should try our best to feel happy for them and smile at their positive situation. 

Doing so shows that you’re displaying the love of Jesus. It means you’re a bigger man (or woman) and can celebrate their achievements no matter what they are. 

After all, you’re not in competition with anyone except yourself. If you can improve yourself by a mere 1% every day, pretty soon you’ll begin to notice some significant improvements in your life.

The third sign that we know our faith is legitimate ties in closely with the second sign and involves loving God’s people just as He loves us.

For certain, we commit many sins every day, yet our Heavenly Father is just to forgive us of all them. 

In the same way, we are commanded to love others and forgive them just as they sin against us. 

In fact Jesus tells us to forgive our neighbor a whopping 490 times, in essence saying there should be no limit on our forgiveness.

That can be a monumental task that the Lord is asking of us, especially when the trespasser shows no remorse for his actions.

However, if we’re to live in the peace, love, and forgiveness that Jesus did while on earth, we must take his teachings to heart.

Love for others also means going out of our way to serve others and anticipate their needs. Others may never ask us to do something for them out of embarrassment. 

It is up to us to see their needs and lend a helping hand when it is in our power to do so. We should always love, help, and serve people just as God does the same for us.

These three areas are but a few of the ways that we can demonstrate our love and care for God and His creation.

Since we are part of His creation, we should always be on the lookout for how we can better someone’s else’s life.

I’ll be the first to admit that I often fall short in doing this. Too often, I’m in a rush trying to get things done that I overlook the needs of those around me.

It could be something as small as letting someone cut in line at the grocery stop, or helping someone who is obviously stranded on the side of the road.

I try to justify my actions (or lack thereof) by telling myself that I would be late if I stopped to help that person. However, I might be the only person who stops to offer assistance while that persona waits in vain for help.

I need to do a better job of listening to the Holy Spirit as He speaks to me in these situations.

How about you?

Worship God for the Right Reason

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Why do you worship God? That may seem like a simple question, but I believe that how we answer it reveals a lot about our motives and attitudes.

Simply put, we should worship and fear God because of who He is. 

As the our loving Father and the Creator of the universe, we should naturally revere the Lord and give Him the respect He deserves.

However, we may be guilty of worshiping God out of selfish motives.

We should ask ourselves if we honor and worship God because of His awesome, loving nature, or because we hope to get on His good side and perhaps receive more blessings?

I know that I have been guilty of falling into that trap of selfishness. 

Many times, the enemy has planted the thought in my mind that if I just give God His due, then He will cause my life to be better and more fulfilling. 

It’s like I was playing a game with God, thinking that I could somehow buy His favor if I “worshiped” Him more or better. 

This approach sounds like how we might look at our job, trying to win brownie points with the boss by buttering him up and being a “yes” man or woman.

By giving the boss praise and compliments—and getting on their good side—we might score a raise or promotion sooner.

However, God isn’t our boss. He’s our loving Father, and he wants us to love Him and worship Him out of this love as well as a healthy, reverential fear.

This isn’t the fear that he will hurt us, but fear that recognizes He is the Ruler of the universe and that all power is in His hands. 

So, if we’re worshiping Him for any other reason, it’s wrong, and we need to rethink our motives.

God is not some sort of cosmic genie who will give us more stuff and a better life if we pull the right strings. 

True, there are many verses in the Bible that tell us God gives favor to those who love and fear Him:

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!

Ps. 126:1

What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.

1 Cor. 2:9

The Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive.

Deut. 6:24

We can find many more such verses in scripture, but these are enough to give you the overall picture that God rewards and blesses us when we fear, love, and honor Him as He so fittingly deserves.

However, He doesn’t want us to worship Him just out of a motivation for reward. 

God desires a mature, intimate relationship with us, one that is built on love, not just His love for us, but our love for Him.

He gave us free will so that we could freely choose to love, respect, and worship Him. 

That’s the way God made us. He didn’t want robots that simply worshiped Him because that’s the way they were programmed. 

He made human beings in His image, with a free will who will either choose or refuse to worship their Creator out of love and reverence.

So, the next time you’re praying or singing praises to God, think about why you’re doing it. 

Is it because you love Him or because you hope to get something from Him?

How Christians Should Respond to the LBGTQ+ Movement

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

As Christians, how are we supposed to respond to individuals who believe that the LGBTQ+ lifestyle is completely normal? 

What’s more, what if a person professing to be a Christian believes that God made some people to be attracted to members of the opposite sex and others to be attracted to the same sex?

There’s no way to resolve this very complex issue in a short blog post, but perhaps I can put forth some opinions to think about how to respond to this challenge, especially as Christians.

I’ll say right out of the gate that I believe the Bible clearly tells us that homosexuality is wrong. It is a sin, just like lying, stealing, and murder are. I don’t understand how you can read the Bible and come away with any other interpretation than that.

I also believe that God made us either one of two genders. Either you’re born one or the other. The idea that you can somehow proclaim that you now identify as the opposite sex not only goes against what God teaches us in the Bible, it doesn’t make common sense.

Let me first say that it personally hurts me when LGBTQ+ supporters say Christians hate homosexual and trans people. 

I know that for me that is actually so far from the truth. While there may be the outlying Christian, I believe the large majority of believers hate the sin, but love the sinner. Our great hope is to point them in the right direction.

The same is true for other types of sexual sin, including adultery and fornication. Christians don’t as a rule hate the one who is the sinner, although they would like to help them forgo the life of sin they have become ensnared in.

All I want (and most believers I would say) is for LGBTQ+ people to see the truth, let Jesus into their lives, and begin to make changes in their beliefs and behaviors that line up with solid biblical teaching.

There is no hate involved, but just a genuine desire to see others put their lives in God’s hands and trust Him with everything.

With that being said, here are a couple of verses that are often used to help show practicing homosexuals and trans people the truth.

Matthew 19: 4-6 says:

‘Haven’t you read,’ he replied, ‘that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’

In Isaiah 62:50, we read:

As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

There are many more verses in Scripture that show that God’s intention is for one man to marry one woman. No where in the Bible is it ever referred to that man should marry man or woman should marry woman.

In fact, we are told in Romans 1:26-28 that that sort of union is sinful and against God’s plan to mankind:

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

So, clearly the LGBTQ+ lifestyle is in direct violation of the kind of fruitful, joyful life God desires each of us to have. 

It’s not just because He wants to take our fun away and have us live a sterile, joyless life. He knows that sin (including sexual sin) will make us miserable in the long run and can bring about both physical and spiritual death.

He wants what’s best for us and will cause all things to work together for good in our lives (Rom. 8:28).

But how do we reach others who are steeped in this rebellious lifestyle? I believe it takes a lot of love and a great deal of patience. 

I believe the best approach toward people of the LGBTQ+ persuasion is to reach out to them with genuine love. Make an honest attempt to connect with them and try to understand their situation. They may be much more confused about their beliefs than they’re willing to let on.

Convey to them the idea that God loves them no matter what. He wants what’s best for them, including a relationship with the opposite sex that can potentially lead to marriage and children.

You may not see results for quite some time, if ever. You may be merely planting a seed, that other people will come by and water, and still other people will see the harvest come to fruition. That’s fine, as the Bible tells us that this is the normal course of events.

So long as you’re doing what you can to show others caught up in the LGBTQ+ lifestile love and understanding, you’re advancing God’s kingdom. It may be quite some time before a person makes a commitment to Jesus and begins to put that lifestyle behind them.

Don’t be afraid to spend time with others caught up in the LGBTQ+ lifestyle. After all, Jesus ate and drank with tax collectors, prostitutes, and other sinners. It is the sick who need the Great Physician, not the well.

Jesus Himself said in Luke 5:32:

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

We would do well to follow His example.

Does God Inhabit Our Praise?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Does God make His home in our praises? It’s a very intriguing thought—that God is actually present when we are praising His name. 

Psalm 22:3 is the key verse that brings up this question. Various Bible translations have rendered this verse in different ways.

For example, the New International Version (NIV) translates it:

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.

The English Standard Version is one of several translations that makes the question a little more valid with its rendering:

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

You can almost picture God living in our praise. In fact, the ESV includes a footnote that says an alternative rendering is “dwelling in the praises.”

Then, there are translations that make it relatively easy to envision God living in our praise. The King James version, among others, renders this verse:

But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

And that is where the question really comes into play for me.

Does this verse mean that God is actually present with us when we’re offering up praise?

Of course, God is always with us. He gives us that promise in Deuteronomy 31:6 and reiterates it in Hebrews 13:5.

But it is a whole other thing to imagine that God is physically present—real and alive—in our praises. That should give us comfort like nothing else can.

It’s like the famous line from Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come.” If we praise God, He will show up. That should give us something to think about.

No matter which translation you read from, and whether or not you believe that God actually lives in our praises, we should all practice praising Him more. 

He is certainly worthy of our praise, as He is our Creator and Heavenly Father who loves us immensely despite all our flaws and sins.

That, in itself, is reason enough for our reverent worship of Him.

God Adores You

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Have you ever wondered what God thinks about you? 

At first, it may seem like a complicated question and one that’s not easily answered. However, all we have to do is turn to the Bible to find the truth. It is full of uplifting verses that tell us exactly how God feels about us.

We are of supreme importance in our Heavenly Father’s eyes. Just read these words found in the book of Matthew:

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Matt. 10:29-31

Does it surprise you that God keeps track of each and every bird on the earth? But even more importantly, He regards us much more highly than any bird. So we should never worry about our worth in God’s eyes.

As we find out in Jeremiah, God planned for us even before our conception:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…

Jer. 1:5

There’s really not much more that can be said about this verse. It perfectly explains that God had a plan for each of us before we were ever conceived. 

Plus, He mapped out our lives ahead of time, as we read here:

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:16

God knows the exact length of each of our lives and knows what He wants our lives to consist of long before we were ever born.

Perhaps one of the best known verses, and one of the most quoted, is John 3:16. Take a moment to really reflect on what this verse says about God and His feelings for us:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

God loves us so much that there is nothing He wouldn’t do for us. Just take a look at this verse:

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Matt 7:11

We are His most prized creation. He even formed us in His image:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

Gen. 1:26

No other part of God’s creation is fashioned in His image—only mankind is. We are the preeminent creation of God. He values us above everything else in the universe.

These are just a few of the many verses that explain how much God loves us. 

If you’re ever in doubt about your worth in the eyes of God, just pick up your Bible and begin reading. You’ll soon discover the truth that God loves you immensely! 

Kick Worry to the Curb

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

God doesn’t want you to worry. Really—He doesn’t.

Over and over in the Bible we read where God tells His people not to worry, not to have anxiety. Here is just one of many examples I could name:

Do not be anxious about anything.

Phil. 4:6a

This command is hard for us to accept in the hustle and bustle of our busy lifestyles. If you’re like me, you tend to feel guilty if you’re not worrying about something. 

It seems like you should be worrying, else you’re neglecting your responsibilities.

However, worrying doesn’t change anything—except maybe to make you feel less guilty. 

You don’t need to feel guilty in the first place. Guilt causes you to worry even more—and you can’t do anything about most of the things you worry about anyway.

So, how do we not worry?

First of all, you have to realize that defeating worry is not a one-time thing. Quitting worrying takes daily effort and a resolve to live in freedom in Jesus. 

Although you may feel like you’re in an uphill battle and that you’re not seeing any results—keep at it. 

Eventually, you’ll find yourself worrying less and living with more joy and peace.

On one of his excellent “In Touch” radio broadcasts, Dr. Charles Stanley lays out three steps to eliminating worry in your life. 

Pray over and meditate on these steps. Really think about them and let them sink into your spirit. 

Doing so will help you beat worry and guilt. 

Step #1 – Realize That God is With You

God knows and sees your situation. He is with you every step of the way. 

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Heb. 13:5b

You are God’s child, and He loves you dearly. Just as you would never leave your own child, God will never leave you.

And how much more He loves you than you are able to love your child!

You don’t need to worry about God’s awareness of your situation. He is omniscient and has known that you would experience whatever trial you’re in even before time itself existed.

He has promised that He will always be with you, so take Him at His word.

Pray to your Heavenly Father and ask Him for help. He won’t let you down.

Step #2 – Maintain Proper Vision

View your situation in context of your faith.

God is Lord of the entire universe and can be fully trusted to help you through any problems you might face.

You can hold on to your faith that God is good and that His will is always in your best interest. As we are told in Romans 8:28:

We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 

When everything seems to be going wrong and all you have is God to fall back on, that’s when your faith is truly put to the test. 

God is all we need. And when He is all we have, we are presented with the opportunity to stand firm in our faith. God’s will WILL prevail.

Step #3 – Seek God’s Kingdom First

If serving God and following His will for your life are your priorities in life, He will make sure that you have everything you need.

Matthew 6:33 tells us:

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

To put it another way, God takes care of His own. If you belong to Jesus and faithfully serve Him, your needs will be met.

Keep in mind, God’s provision might not always look like you think it should, but He will always come through. 

God wants to be your provider. His desire is for you to rely on Him and Him alone—not your job, your bank account, or even your own abilities.

Just Him.

When you know that God will meet your every need, you don’t need to worry about having enough. 

You’ll have what you need, when you need it. And you can count on that.

So, to sum up Dr. Stanley’s advice for overcoming worry:

  1. Trust God.
  2. Have faith in God.
  3. Seek God.

Here’s to a worry-free, joy-filled life pursuing God!

It’s Easy to Be Mad at God

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

It’s easy to be mad at God. There are multiple opportunities every day to blame God and distance yourself from Him. 

I don’t know why life is this way. I suppose a theologian would say it’s because we live in a fallen world. It’s imperfect, so there are naturally going to be situations every day that we’re unhappy with.

And since God is omnipotent, He’s the one to blame for all our troubles, right?

That’s the trap so many of us fall into, myself included. 

Even though I know it’s wrong, I still often blame God for the little annoyances of life. Like when I went into a restaurant recently to pick up a carryout order and only grabbed one of the two bags I was supposed to get.

I thought to myself, Why couldn’t God have prompted me somehow that there was another bag I needed to pick up?

I mean, that’s a logical thought, isn’t it? He knew I was only picking up one of the bags. He could have whispered to me to double-check that I got everything, couldn’t He?

Certainly, He could have done that. But He didn’t. I don’t know why, other than that He was using the situation as a teaching tool of some sort. Perhaps He wanted me to learn something from the experience or to grow my faith. 

Maybe he was hoping that I would indeed have the thought that He could have prompted me about the second bag, but that I would then remember that it doesn’t matter because He is all good.

Alas, this isn’t what happened, because I found myself questioning Him and His ways.

But, at least I eventually did come to the conclusion that He is good, even though it took me a while. I’m a work in progress for sure.

What about you? Do you blame God when things don’t go exactly as you think they should? 

If you do, why not just go ahead and accept His goodness now, without waiting? Cut out all the steps in the middle and realize that He loves you and is looking out for you. 

I believe that’s what He’s hoping you’ll do.

What Is the Meaning of Life?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

We’ve all asked the meaning of life; we’ve all wondered what our purpose is for being placed on this big ol’ ball of mud to live for a few decades. 

There are many ways you could try to explain the meaning of life, but I think the best one is to simply go to the Bible and read what God has to say about it. 

Rather than everything happening by happenstance, there is a method to the supposed madness. God planned everything out way before any of us were ever here. 

He knew exactly who was going to be on this planet and when. He knew everything that was going to take place with each of us. Some good, some bad, but He knew it all beforehand. 

Why, you ask? Now I certainly don’t know the full answer to that, but I believe I can answer it in part. 

Simply put, we were put here to worship God. We are an outpouring of His love. 

God IS love, so He created human beings so He could bestow His love on them and we could, in turn, love Him back. 

Of course, this is all in preparation for the eternity that He wants each of us to spend with him. He wants us all to spend forever with him in Heaven/The New Jerusalem. 

The meaning of life on this planet is to prepare us for that, at least in part I think. 

However, our lives in eternity will be so vastly different from anything we can fathom now that there won’t be any real comparison. 

Personally, I can’t wait to get to eternity. Many days I’m so done with this life that all I can think about is how much better life in eternity will be. This life here is just a trial run after all. 

THAT is what the meaning of life is, as far as I can tell anyway.

9 Verses About God’s Love That Will Lift Your Spirits

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Perhaps you’re like many people in today’s hurry-scurry world and you feel completely all alone. If it’s been a while since you really connected with anyone else, you may feel like there’s not a single soul on the planet who cares about you. 

While it could be true that you don’t have anyone else to call a friend, who you can go to for advice or just for a hug, you always have God. He loves you unconditionally, no matter how bad you think you are. He’s always there and is longing for a relationship with you. 

Below are nine of the best verses that detail the depth of God’s love for us, in no particular order:

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

This is one of the most, if not the most, famous verses in the entire bible. The reason is because it describes God’s deep love for us, so much so that He was willing to allow His Son to be tortured and killed before resurrecting Him. His punishment paid the price for the sin we all commit every day.

1 John 4:9

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

This verse also details the depth of God’s love for us, explaining that He sacrificed His son so that we might live eternally.

1 John 4:16

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

In this verse, we’re told that God is in fact love Himself. Wherever there is true love, that represents the very essence of God.

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Here we see that Jesus loves us so much that He willingly gave His life so that we might live.

Ephesians 2:4-5

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved.

God loves us so much that he gave us new life even when we were mired down in our sin.

Psalm 86:15

But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

God always acts with compassion because His love is overflowing toward us, His creation.

Psalm 136:26

Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

So strong and powerful is God’s love that it will indeed last forever. Nothing you do can stop Him from loving you.

Psalm 36:7

How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

God’s love is an ever-present shelter for us during all the trials and tribulations of life.

Romans 5:5

And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

God gave us the Holy Spirit so that we could experience the full measure of His love for us.

This is just a starting point, as these verses only scratch the surface of all the verses in the Bible that demonstrate how much God loves us. Whenever you’re feeling down or blue, spend some time meditating on these verses. Then dig deeper and find more passages that speak to your heart about God’s deep, everlasting love for you.