Dad asks his little one, “Do you love me–how much?”

“Yes! I love you this much,” says the lad enthusiastically with arms stretched to their maximum spread.

So it is that Scripture assures us that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life;” John 3:16. Our Father in heaven shows His love to us by the outstretched arms of our Savior on the cross.

“This much!” says the Father in heaven. Our hearts respond, and “we love because He first loved us,” First John 4:9. In addition, living with a God who loves us so much alters everything! In the light of First John, chapter 4, study carefully Old Testament references, such as Psalms 119:64, 76, 88. See the mind-set of one held in the arms of Almighty love.

A valuable postscript–In spite of the foregoing Satan often uses this approach: “Such wonderful love! Surely, your little sins won’t matter.” But God’s response is sure: “I love you too much to allow that, so I promise you, ‘the Lord disciplines those he loves,'” Hebrews 11:6.