GOD LOVES...

Yesterday someone asked my children, "Who does God love?"

Their simultaneous answers?

"Me!"
"Everybody!"

Both true.

I think that if we only focus on "God loves me," we can forget that God so loved THE WORLD. That many of His children are suffering, hungry, or in need. That God loves the 23-year old dying of AIDS or the 9-year old starving child as much as the 38-year old pastor in Dallas. That He sent His son for the ones this world has discarded. That we are to have compassion for others because they are His beloved.

And I think that if we only focus on "God loves everybody," it's easy to forget that His love is so personal, so individual, so specific while being so broad and all-encompassing. That His love is so "for me." That He called me by name and went to the cross motivated by His love for me. It's personal. His love is mine.

God loves me/God loves everybody. All at the same time. :)