by David Gibson<\/p>\n
One of life’s greatest blessings is knowing someone loves us, despite our faults and failures. I never doubted that my parents loved me, or that my wife loved me. And doesn’t their love have a way of bringing out the best in us? We don’t want to disappoint them–especially if they have high expectations of us. We want to please those who love us.<\/p>\n
No one loves us more than God our Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Here is one of the most comforting and uplifting passages in the Bible: “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are<\/em>” (I John 3:1 NASB).<\/p>\n John offers this tremendous truth: We who belong to Christ are children of God! And the inspired writer connects it with another awesome affirmation: God loves us!<\/p>\n Speaking of Jesus, John says, “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God<\/em>” (John 1:11-13; see John 3:3, 5).<\/p>\n But to those who refuse to receive Him, Jesus tells them who their father truly is–and it isn’t God (John 8:42-44).<\/p>\n Knowing God loves us and we are His children puts a song in our hearts and gives great meaning and purpose to our lives.<\/p>\n Tragically, so many children grow up never knowing the nurturing love of a godly parent. They lack the supportive example and training in righteousness every child needs and deserves. It’s no wonder so many end up in gangs, drugs, prison, or an untimely grave. And yet how God longs for these, too, to know His love and become His children. What a beautifully wonderful thing it is to see someone rescued from a wretched past to know at last the love of God! And so, despite a horrible start in life, they can enjoy a new beginning, the new birth, and live forever in the presence of the One who loved them most.<\/p>\n “How great a love!”<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson One of life’s greatest blessings is knowing someone loves us, despite our faults and failures. I never doubted that my parents loved me, or that my wife loved me. And doesn’t their love have a way of bringing out the best in us? We don’t want to disappoint them–especially if they have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-92659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-love"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9761,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-i-obey-god-even-though-i-dont-want-to-is-that-proof-that-i-love-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":92659,"position":0},"title":"If I obey God even though I don’t want to, is that proof that I love God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, When I do something because it's a commandment from God, and even if I don't want to, is that not proof that I love God? So there are things I don't like to do but because I love God I do it anyway. And on the other\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13611,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-people-who-want-a-personal-relationship-with-jesus-against-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":92659,"position":1},"title":"Why are people who want a personal relationship with Jesus against religion?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I hear many folks, seemingly of the denominational world, speak of having a \"personal relationship\" with Jesus or God. They tend to pit this against religion as if they take offense to the notion of religion. Can you speak to the \"personal relationship\" idea as I can't seem to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58748,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-there-be-love-in-heaven-when-sinners-are-in-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":92659,"position":2},"title":"How can there be love in heaven when sinners are in hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good Evening, Thank you so much for all the resources included on the La Vista Church of Christ website.\u00a0 My son and I have been using these articles for years.\u00a0Unfortunately, my son is now a wayward Christian, and he asked me the following questions in a recent Bible study\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40103,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unconditional-love-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":92659,"position":3},"title":"Unconditional Love?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Benton in Answering Religious Error, April 15, 2015 That God's love is \"unconditional\" means one thing to one person and a different thing to someone else. The Bible does not use the expression \"unconditional love\" but does imply it. God \"so loved\" the world (John 3:16). That would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46605,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-loves-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":92659,"position":4},"title":"Jesus Loves Me","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Mark 10:13-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cJesus Loves Me\u201d is a tune known the world over \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was written in 1860 by Anna Bartlett Warner as a poem for her sister\u2019s book, Say and Seal. In the story the poem is recited by Mr. Linden, one of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85710,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/perversion-of-the-love-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":92659,"position":5},"title":"Perversion of the Love of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Many want to continue a sinful practice so much that they think they can use the love of God to justify it. God does so love the world that He gave His Son to die for sinners. He loved me while I was yet a sinner\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92659\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}“I stand amazed in the presence
\nOf Jesus the Nazarene,
\nAnd wonder how He could love me,
\nA sinner condemned, unclean.”<\/blockquote>\nIt Is God’s Love That Enables Us to Become His Children<\/h2>\n
Even If …<\/h2>\n