How Can You Know God Loves You by Rick Warren

“The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.” (Psalm 145:9 NLT, second edition)

One of my pet peeves is water-saving shower heads. I can’t stand them! It’s just a tiny stream coming down. It’s not a shower; it’s a dribble! I’m a pretty big guy, and it takes me a long time to get wet with one little dribble.

Don’t call it a shower unless it’s a shower!

That’s why I think it’s so important what the Bible tells us about God’s love.

The Bible says, “The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation” (Psalm 145:9 NLT, second edition).

God’s love for you is no dribble. The Bible says God showers his love on us. He isn’t stingy like water-saving showe heads are with water.

Psalm 42:8 says, “Each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me.”

When I use salad dressing, I’m not one of these people who dips the fork in the salad dressing for a little bit of taste. I pour it on! In fact, sometimes it looks like I want more dressing than salad!

That’s how God loves you. God pours his love on you all the time. He doesn’t approve of everything you do, but he loves you unconditionally.

How can you know God loves you?

God pays attention to every detail of your life. He watched every point of your life from conception. He’s seen every up, down, good, bad, and ugly moment, and he’s never had his eyes off you. God pays attention to all the details. That’s what love does. You pay attention to what you love.
God took action on your behalf. Love is about giving. When you love people, you make their problems your problems. Jesus did that. He made your problems his problems before you even knew you had them. In fact, he solved your biggest problem by dying for you on the cross before you were even born. Love is action. And Jesus takes initiative on your behalf before you even know you need it. He came to be your Savior.
In the Christmas story, the Bible says, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11 NIV).

You need a Savior! If you didn’t need one, God wouldn’t have sent Jesus.

If there was any other way you could get into Heaven except God’s way, believe me — God wouldn’t have wasted the effort. He wouldn’t have sent Jesus to die for no purpose. And that is the greatest example of love — one person giving his life for another.