That is a beautiful way of expressing the reality of the image of God in man. When we are in a genuinely loving relationship on earth, it is as if God is tapping us on the shoulder and saying, “There is more. Revel in the earthly love you have found, but don’t settle for it as if it is the pinnacle of love. There is more. There is My love for you.”

An author never knows into whose hands his or her books may fall. Therefore, I don’t know what your relationship is to the love of God. You could be a follower of Christ who has spent years enjoying the loyal, unconditional love of God. Or you could be a Christian, new or old, who thinks of God’s love in purely human terms, believing that God loves you in exactly the same way others have. Perhaps you have been abused by someone who used “love” as a pretense for his or her own agenda—and you have sworn never to trust the words “I love you” again.

Regardless of your relationship to love, you may be a read-the-last-chapter-first kind of person and so you turned to the conclusion of this book to see what the bottom line is before committing to the whole thing. If you have read the title, you have read the concluding line as well: God loves you—He always has and He always will. That’s not true because I say it is. It’s true because that is the “conclusion” of the Bible.

I gave my life to God as a young person, and I’ve lived as a follower of Jesus Christ for many decades now. I know God is real, and I know He loves me. I know that He loves you, too, whoever you are, whatever your circumstances may be.

I’ve been through the good times and the bad times of life, and God has always been there for me. He has never failed me. But neither has He kept me free of problems or heartbreak. In this world, we must contend with them. But He has always been with me; He has always given me the wisdom to take the next step. He has blessed me in more ways than I could write down. I can’t imagine what life would be without Him.

You can know Him, too. Again, let’s forget your history and your present circumstances. God’s love is not conditioned by anything you are or anything you have done. God loves you because it is His nature to love you. But God does not force His love on anyone. He created us to be creatures of free will. He makes His love available to each of us, but we must take the initiative to receive it.