Struggling to understand God’s love for us – specifically, for you? Read on for scriptures on God’s love, and why understanding it deeply changes everything.
One of the most transformative mind shifts for me recently is understanding and believing God’s love for me.
Oh, I knew of God’s love. You probably know all the same clichés I heard growing up – “smile! God loves you.” “Yes, Jesus loves me.” “God’s love changes everything.”
So, why did I constantly get lost in my own insecurity and inadequacy? Why were so many of my choices made out of fear and self protection? Why did I always feel the need to prove my worth, and feel so horrified when I failed?
Because when it came down to it, I wasn’t living loved.
The truth is that God’s love answers all the questions we have about ourselves.
Most of us have a head knowledge of a general God-love for all of us. We might even know the right Bible verses about God’s love for us – and yet somehow, it fails to connect. We can’t seem to apply them specifically and personally to ourselves.
How deep is God’s love for us? Let’s look over some of these Bible verses about the love of God.
I encourage you, first, to pray. Pray for God to make this message personal to you. Pray that he reveals insight into these verses that you’ve never realized before.
Do I matter?
Yes, God designed you – you specifically, the person reading this – with purpose and intention and care.
In Psalm 139:13-18, David contemplates the care and precision of how God made us. Each one of us is “fearfully and wonderfully made.” God wrote out his plans for us before we were even born. God’s thoughts about us outnumber the grains of sand.
Savor those truths for a minute with me. God is the Creator, and he makes wonderful things – no exceptions. And he didn’t just create us to sit here – he has plans written out for us. (Jeremiah 29:11 and Ephesians 2:10 talk about his good plans for us, too.) Finally, the amount of times God thinks about you, dear one? Uncountable.
Am I valuable and worthy of love?
First of all, God knows us intimately. According to Psalm 139:1-6, he knows every thought, word, or action we’ve ever made or will make. Hebrews 4:13 says nothing is hidden from God; it’s all before him.
He knows all of it – all the good, the bad, and the ugly – and he sees you as worthy of love. How do we know? Because “he demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He brought us to life in Jesus even when we were dead in our sin, according to Ephesians 2:4-5.
God finds you valuable enough to give the absolute best and most he has to give. The whole Bible points to God’s love for us through Christ Jesus.
Is God’s love limited?
Psalm 103 paints such a beautiful picture about God’s love for us. Let’s look at some of the descriptions it uses: abounding (verse 8), as high as the heavens are above the earth (verse 11), from everlasting to everlasting (verse 17). Jeremiah 31:3 also describes God’s love as “everlasting”.
Romans 8, one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, asks similar questions: is there anything God withholds from me? Is there anything that will separate me from God’s love? It also answers both questions: NO. Verses 31 through 39 talk about this.
So is God’s love limited? No – not by time, not by lack, not by God himself withholding it, not by anything or anyone else.
How does God show his love for me?
What does God’s love for us look like? Most notably, he sent his son to die on the cross for us, for forgiveness of our sins so that we could be reconciled to him. 1 John 4:9-10 states this so clearly. It also says that his love is seen when we love each other.
God also “quiets us with his love” and rejoices over us (Zephaniah 3:17).
He shows us fresh compassion daily (Lamentations 3:22-23).
God treats us as children (Ephesians 1:4-6).
He calls us “precious,” “honored,” and “his” (Isaiah 43:4, 1).
He “crowns us with love and compassion,” satisfies our desires, and and renews us (Psalm 103:4-5).
Here’s a summary of all the verses on God’s love that we went through in this post.
Psalm 103
Psalm 139
Isaiah 43:1-4
Jeremiah 31:3
Lamentations 3:22-23
Zephaniah 3:17
Romans 8
Ephesians 1:4-6
Ephesians 2:4-10
Hebrews 4:13
God invites you to live loved.
Another cliché? Maybe, but it’s true. When confront the lies – that we are unloved, unimportant, insignificant, too much of a mess – with God’s Word, we find overwhelming evidence of his love, kindness, and compassion toward each of us individually.
This isn’t an instant fix, though. It takes time for your mind to transform.
If you still struggle to believe, don’t give up. Keep pressing in. Keep returning to God’s Word, keep asking him to help you see with his perspective.
One of the prayers I have adopted daily for three years now is this: God, help me to see myself and others with your perspective. There are many voices that can tell us what we ought to believe about ourselves – but we can choose to listen to the reliable words of our Creator.
How about you?
What Bible verses help you to see the depth and magnitude of God’s love for you? How do they challenge negative thinking about yourself?
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Photo Credit:
1 – gaspar manuel zaldo on Unsplash
2 – Daniel Seßler on Unsplash
3 – Casey Horner on Unsplash
I needed to break away today from life’s routine today. In search of God’s love in a deeper way and here I am ready your blog. Abba, You are amazing!!!! Soon to be 58, I need a transformation to happen like never before; it’s God’s love drawing me deeper. A life altering encounter of His love. I’m staying right here until I grab hold of His love.
I’m so glad to hear that, and that you made your way here! It’s amazing how God continues to draw us deeper. We never just arrive! There’s always more to his love, more to learn from him, more ways to grow, more questions to ask about him. Thanks for sharing <3