ON CHRISTIANITY

By BILLY GRAHAM

LITTLE ROCK — DEAR REV. GRAHAM: A friend keeps telling me that God loves me, but how do I know it’s true? My parents divorced whenI was 9 and I was raised (reluctantly) by my grandparents, so all my life I’ve felt that no one loves me. Why is God any different?

- L.R.

DEAR L.R.: The reason God is different from all those who failed you - is because He is God! Human beings are imperfect (and sometimes worse than imperfect) - but God is perfect, and so is His love for you.

Let me ask you a question: How would you know if someone really loved you? Words alone wouldn’t be enough (although they’re important and have their place). But what would prove it to you most of all would be their actions - the way they took care of you, the way they sacrificed for you, the way they demonstrated their concern for you and your future.

The same is true with God. How do we know God loves us? We know it first of all because He has told us in His Word, the Bible. Repeatedly He tells us, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).But we know it most of all because God has demonstrated His love for us, by sending His Son into the world to die for our sins. If you had been the only person on earth who needed to be saved, Christ still would have given His life for you. He loves you that much!

By faith accept His love, by asking Christ to come into your life. Then let the Bible’s truth sink into your mind and heart every day - the truth that God loves you, and that nothing “in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). God bless you.

Write to Billy Graham in care of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, N.C. 28201 or visit the Web site at

www.billygraham.org

HomeStyle, Pages 40 on 11/21/2009

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