God Made You to Love You
By Rick Warren
“The Lord takes pleasure in his people.” Psalm 149:4 (GNT)
God created you to love you.
The Bible doesn’t say God has love. The Bible says, “God is love” (1 John 4:8 ESV). Love is the essence of his nature.
The Bible says, “For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased” (Revelation 4:11 NLT).
Everything was created because God gets enjoyment out of it. He wanted to love it. God loves every rock, every plant, every animal, every star, and every human being.
As Psalm 149:4 says, “The Lord takes pleasure in his people” (GNT).
God takes pleasure in you all the time. Why? He created you. He’s your heavenly Father.
Some people think God is only smiling at them when they’re doing something “religious.” Nothing could be further from the truth. God gets pleasure in watching you be you because he made you you.
God planned you for his pleasure, and he wants you to learn to love him back. Jesus gave the ultimate summary of the Bible when asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” (Matthew 22:36 NIV).
Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38 NIV).
Life is all about love. If you don’t get that, you’ve missed the first purpose of your life—to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Before my feet touch the ground each morning, I pray this: “Dear God, it’s another day. And if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know you a little bit better, and I want to love you a little bit more.”
If you find yourself at the end of an awful day—full of your own mistakes, sin, grief, and pain—but you recognize that you’ve learned to love God just a little bit more, your day isn’t a waste.
You’re doing exactly what God made you to do.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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