Rick Warren's Blog, page 619

Why God Loves You Even On Your Bad Days

God loves you so much that he sent Jesus on a mission of love with a message of love. The Bible doesn���t say God has love; it says God is love. Love is his nature; God is love.

God created the entire universe. He created this planet; he created the human race. Then, he created you because he loves you.

Why You Need to Join a Church

Whenever a child is born, he or she automatically becomes a part of the universal family of human beings. But that child also needs to become a member of a specific family to receive nurture and care and grow up healthy and strong. The same is true spiritually. When you were born again, you automatically became a part of God���s universal family. But you also need to become a member of a local expression of God���s family.

You Can���t Stop God From Loving You!

We were created in God���s image to do two things on Earth: learn to love God and learn to love other people. Life is all about love.

But love all started with God. He loved us first, and that gives us the ability to love others. The Bible says in 1 John 4:19, ���We love because he first loved us��� (NIV).

What Is the Antidote For Loneliness?

There is no place you can go where God���s love isn���t. You���ll never be separated from God���s love.

Nothing ��� no circumstance, no situation ��� can separate you, because God���s love is everywhere: ���Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord��� (Romans 8:39 NIV).

Can God Love You More Than He Does Now?

Human love wears out; that���s why we have so many divorces. I know a lot of people who are not divorced, but they don���t love their spouses anymore. There���s a limit to human love. It dries up!

That���s why you have to have God���s love in your marriage ��� in all your relationships ��� if they are going to last. God���s love never wears out. God���s love is patient, persistent, and persevering.

Do You Have to Prove Your Worth?

The width of God���s love extends across the entire world and includes all people: ���The LORD is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does��� (Psalm 145:17 NIV). God loves the whole world (John 3:16).

Do You Have Trouble Loving God?

A while back, a man came into my office and said, ���I���m a Christian, but I don���t feel like I���m going anywhere in my spiritual growth. I���m kind of stuck in neutral.���

I said, ���What do you think the problem is?���

He said, ���I think my problem is I just don���t love God enough.���

Can You Learn to Love Like Jesus?

You are not the Body of Christ on your own. You need others to express that. Together, not separated, we are his Body.

A church family moves you out of self-centered isolation. The local church is the classroom for learning how to get along in God���s family. It is a lab for practicing unselfish, sympathetic love.

Do Your Fears Keep You From Being Free?

The world defines freedom as a life without any restraint ��� ���I can do anything I want to do and say anything I want to say, without anybody telling me what to do.��� You may burn everybody else, but you get to do it your own way. You can have your freedom, but only by being totally selfish.

Why Believing Includes Belonging

You are called to belong, not just believe.

We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us can fulfill God���s purposes by ourselves. The Bible knows nothing of solitary saints or spiritual hermits isolated from other believers and deprived of fellowship.