An oft repeated phrase.

I said it over and over again to my children, and now it is embedded in conversations with my grandchildren.

It rolls off the tongue like water from the rooftop, and it is good and pleasant, ringing with truth. The words are so familiar that one can almost be flippant when saying them,

but these are not flippant words.

God loves you.

God.loves.you. Personally, uniquely, unconditionally.

These three words capture the heart of God, the reason for Christ’s birth and ministry, the motivation for the cross, and the absolute victory of the resurrection.

God loves you.

God loves me.

God – eternal, omnipotent, Creator God

Loves – wants, cherishes, calls, delights in

Me – sinful, self-centered, self-absorbed, broken

God loves me.

His love is a gift, unearned, emanating from the very character of God. This love sacrificed to make a way to reach me, called me when I had turned away, and drew me into His arms.

This love sees me as I really am and reaches out anyway, offering cleansing, offering mercy, offering grace.

God.loves.me!

God.loves.you!

When one begins to fully grasp this concept, service becomes joy, trials are bearable, and life shines with light,

for when one is hidden in the heart of God,

the darkness of this world cannot overcome.

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 (atonement, payment) for our sins.

Romans 5:8 But God commended (gave) his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Photo – Reflections, Beth Mims