God’s Love Changes Everything
By Rick Warren
“I love you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3 GW).
Nothing you’ve ever done or will ever do can stop God from loving you. God said in Jeremiah 31:3, “I love you with an everlasting love” (GW).
Do you know how long everlasting is?
It’s forever. You can’t make God stop loving you; he will love you forever. His love isn’t based on what you do. It’s based on who he is. The only reason you’re alive is because God made you to love you.
That’s why God sent his Son: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NLT).
God wants you to know his love. Even more, he wants you to feel his love.
God’s love will transform you when you feel it. It turns somebody who is hateful, bigoted, or racist into a kind, gentle, and loving person. When God's love hits your heart, it changes you.
If your life hasn’t changed, then you don’t know God. You can’t have somebody as big as God come into your life and not be changed by it.
When God's love comes into your life, it changes how you react to everyone else. When you truly understand and experience the love of God, you can’t help but pass it on to others.
In fact, Jesus described it like this: “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35 HCSB).
But it starts with God’s love for us.
The most amazing conversion in the Bible is of a guy named Saul, who was a religious extremist that killed Christians. One day, on his way to Damascus, he encountered the resurrected Jesus.
Jesus said to Saul, "Why are you persecuting me?"
Saul fell to his knees and said, "My Lord and my God."
The man who had once been a religious extremist became the apostle of love. Saul, now known as Paul, wrote most of the New Testament, including some of the most beautiful words on love ever written, 1 Corinthians 13.
The everlasting, completely free love of God will do that. It changes lives.
Has it changed yours?
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
Encourage a Graduate in Your Life
Graduation time is here, and chances are there’s a young person in your life who could use some encouragement, along with a little guidance.
Set them up for success with Pastor Rick’s The Purpose Driven Life: Selected Thoughts and Scriptures for the Graduate.
Filled with inspirational Scripture, biblical wisdom from Pastor Rick, and beautiful imagery, this unique, hardcover gift book provides a priceless reminder of the bountiful life God has planned for your graduate—and it will empower them to seek his unique plan and purpose for their life.
We’d love to send you a copy of this special resource as thanks for your gift today to help Daily Hope take the transforming power of Jesus into more lives around the world.
So request your copy below—and set a young graduate on the path to all God has for their life!
*The USA IRS code permits you to deduct the amount of your financial gift to Daily Hope that exceeds the fair market value of materials you received from Daily Hope.
This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.