God paid a staggering price to have a relationship with you. There's nothing you can do to make Him stop loving you. So just believe the love! What's even more amazing is this: God loves us all just as much as He loves Jesus.

The first time the Lord said that to me, my mind just couldn't comprehend it. I thought, "How can that be?" To this day, I don't fully know the answer to that question. I don't know how God could possibly love me as much as He loves Jesus, I just know that He does! Jesus said so Himself in John 17.

In His prayer to the Father, Jesus said: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." (Verses 20-21, 23)

Use Your Faith
If there's one thing the Bible doesn't leave any doubt about, it's the fact that God loves us! Scripture after scripture bears it out. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16). "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us" (Eph. 2:4). "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1).

Yet in the face of all this biblical testimony of God's love, I have heard Christians, "word-believing, faith people," hardly believe God really loves them. They'll drop their faith and sit around waiting for the right "feelings" to chase them down and jump on them. If you've been doing that, I can tell you right now, it will not happen. Your "feelings" can never reveal to you the depth of God's love.

Faith works the same in every area. You didn't "feel like" you were saved or have a consciousness of salvation until you released your faith in the Word of God and believed He had saved you. You don't feel healed until you've released your faith and believed you've received that healing. By the same token, you won't feel the love of God on a consistent basis until you cultivate your faith in that area and start believing God loves you whether you feel it or not.

If you want to enjoy the benefits of that love, you'll have to get your faith involved. As 1 John 4:15-16 says, "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." Notice that verse doesn't say, "We have known and felt the love that God hath to us." It says, "We have known and believed!"

Put the Word First
Exactly how do you go about cultivating faith in God's love? The same way you cultivate faith in any other area of life. First of all, you put the Word first place and not your feelings. The reason most of us have been so slow to do that in this particular area is because we've had love mixed up with feelings for so long. We've thought that if we didn't feel love, we didn't have any. But that's not true.

Remember this: Just because you feel unloved, doesn't mean you actually are unloved! Just because you feel unwanted doesn't mean that God doesn't want you. He does want you. He paid a staggering price to have a relationship with you. And there's nothing you can do to make Him stop loving you. So believe it!

God's Not Out to Get You
When you start taking God at His Word and just start believing His love, it will strengthen you inside. A consciousness of God's love will make you a spiritual giant faster than anything else I know. One reason is that fear is one of the tools the devil uses to make you weak, and "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear" (1 John 4:18).

One of the first fears that begins to crumble is an unjustified fright of God. Although we are to have reverence and respect for God, there is no Bible reason to be afraid of Him. Why should we ever be afraid of a God Whose mercy is new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23)? Why should we be afraid of someone Who is good to all who call upon Him (Psa. 86:5)? Why should we be afraid of someone Whose mercy endures forever (Psa. 100:5)?

God doesn't want to "get" anybody. If He wanted to get anyone, we'd all be gotten by now! Granted, calamity often comes when people get into sin, but God isn't the One Who brings it on them. Calamity happens because, when they step into sin, they step out of His protection and into the curse that Satan is still bringing on the world. The curse is out there. If you want to walk in it you can do it. But it cannot overpower you because Jesus redeemed you from it by being made a curse for you (see Gal. 3:13). So through repentance and obedience, you can walk out of that curse and into God's protection whenever you choose.

Meditate on God's Mercy
The second way to cultivate your faith in God's love is to meditate on it. Sit down with your Bible. Look up scriptures about God's love and mercy and compassion. Then, as you read them, ask yourself questions like these: "How do these truths change my life? What do they mean for me?"

David, the Old Testament psalmist and king, is an excellent example of what that kind of meditation can do for you. He meditated on the love and mercy of God so much that he was completely confident in it. (If he hadn't been, his enemies would have taken his head a dozen times!) It was David's confidence in God's loving care that inspired him to write the Twenty-third Psalm.

There is no doubt about it, that man knew God loved him! He was also a man who committed some of the most outrageous sins imaginable. Spiritually, he did some of the most foolish things a man can do. Yet, because David meditated on and trusted in the mercy of God, he knew how to throw himself on that mercy. David knew how to come before God with such confidence in His love, that God eventually called him a man after His own heart.

Right now, you may not feel like God loves you at all. But if you'll continue to meditate on what the Word says about His love, eventually the reality of it will take authority over your feelings. Suddenly, one day, you'll realize that you not only believe you're loved, you feel loved. And then you'll smile from ear to ear because you just can't help yourself!

Behave Like You Believe
The third step you can take to cultivate your faith in God's love is to act on the Word. Purposely start behaving like God loves you. Get up in the morning and treat God like your friend. Don't change your tone when you start to talk to Him. Don't get all religious and say "Thee" and "Thou." Just be honest and straightforward with Him.

What's more, there's nothing you can say that will shock Him. Remember, Jesus has lived on this earth. The Spirit of God is here now. He knows about all the filth and corruption that goes on here. So there's no reason for you to change your personality when you talk to Him and try to convince Him you're more "spiritual" than you are. He was there just a few minutes ago when you were talking the other way. You might as well just get real.

You don't need to whine when you talk to God either. God doesn't want us to come cowering and whining to Him. That kind of behavior stems from an "unworthy mentality." It stems from the traditions of men that tell us we don't deserve to be in the presence of God because we're just old sinners saved by grace.

Get rid of that kind of thinking. You were an old sinner, but you're not one anymore. By the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Ghost, you've been made the righteousness of God! You've been born into this royal family. God Almighty is your Father and Jesus of Nazareth is your brother.

Live the Lifestyle of Love
The fourth step to cultivating faith in God's love is to make the decision to be loving toward others. Make the commitment to act in love - not just when it looks like it would be to your advantage, but all the time. If you're not certain how love acts, then spend some time studying 1 Corinthians 13. It gives the finest, most succinct description of love you'll ever find.

In the past, you may not have acted very lovingly toward others. But don't let that affect you. Just repent of it and move on. Now you can love others because you know that you are loved.

You know God loves you with an all-forgiving, never-ending, blessing-giving kind of love that never fails. He loves you just as much as He loves Jesus. So stop looking to your feelings and start rejoicing in the truth. Believe the love God has for you and the benefits will quickly follow. You'll soon find yourself laughing and loving and enjoying life to the fullest.