John 3:16 is one of the most well known and frequently quoted bible verses (in my experience, I haven’t done a detailed study!) It says, ‘God so loved the world that he sent his only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.’
It is a good Bible verse, especially when praying for someone – it is good reminder that we are all loved. There are others. 1 John 3:1 ‘See what love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God’ is possibly my favourite.
The limitation of the John 3 verse is the condition that can sometimes be read into it – that we must believe before we are loved. 1 John 4, a few verses later than the one I just quoted states, ‘We love because he first loved us’. The love comes first. Before we have done anything, said anything, become anything, we are loved. After we have stumbled, made a mess, been scarred, we are loved. God’s love is bigger than anything else, it’s a theme that runs all the way through the bible. You are loved.
The other day I came across the picture at the end of this post and I had a lightbulb moment – we are all loved and we will never meet someone who isn’t. The best or the worst of us is a Child of God. Sometimes that may be hard to swallow, and sometimes that is a huge comfort. God’s love for us is unconditional – it’s about who he is, not what we’ve done. Take a moment to think about that and let that sink in – you will never meet someone that God doesn’t love.
The Reason for my Hope Blog 