If you ask people if God loves or if God loves them, you will get a wide variety of responses. God may be harsh from time to time, by what we consider harsh, but did anyone ever think that He may be this way to make you think and understand that there are consequences for your actions. We as a society have come to think that everything we do is ok and that there should be no consequences for our actions.
I can remember my dad cursing at God blaming Him for everything. The reality is God is in charge, but has given control to Satan for a period of time. Satan will do everything in his power to turn you away from God and that include portraying God as loveless. He will whisper lies into your ears that sound so real. This is one of my favorites and have even used it myself. If there is a God or if God really loves us, then why does He allow such evil to happen especially to good people? This question or ones like it can make God appear to be evil, but as I stated already, Satan is in control of Earth for a period of time. So if Satan is in charge, then who is really allowing evil to occur or who is propagating evil worldwide?
How did we get so messed up? The simple truth is that we believed Satan’s lies versus God’s truth because it was easier and fell in line with what we were already thinking.
Scripture tells us that God is love and that He loves us:
1 John 4:8 New International Version (NIV)
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
You may be thinking, wow that one versus really cleared things up. I am so glad you posted this, but there are other versus as well.
Mark 12:28-32 New International Version (NIV)
The Greatest Commandment
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.
John 3:16 New International Version (NIV)
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.
If you are wondering if that is all there is for love, the answer is no. There are many scriptures that talk about love. Such as to love one another, how God is love, what God did for us out of love. Love does not always mean sitting back and letting us drive right off a cliff, but may take a smack to the hands to make us change course before it is too late. For some of us it is a simple whisper in the ear, but for others it may require a 2×4 upside the head.
Will you be molded like clay or like metal on an anvil with a hammer? The choice is yours. However, remember this that God is love and that God loves you. I pray that you are able to see this and that you are able to repent before it is too late