Have you ever felt like in spite of how unfaithful you are in your walk with God, He loves you more than the next person? I have had that feeling time and time again and have basked and reveled in that feeling that, of everyone in my world, God loves me the best!

As you read this you might think, “Well, that is not true! God does not discriminate!” And rightly so. However, God is intentional about the love He shows to each and every person on earth. He loves everyone the same and yet is He able to make each and everyone in their own way feel like He loves them the best!

Remember the parable of the lost sheep?

What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. Matthew 18:12-13 NIV

This does not mean that the shepherd (Jesus) loved the 99 sheep any less. It just means that when God pursues you He is intentional about it and He makes you truly feel the length, the depth, and the breadth of his love.

Jesus is calling us all to this place of intentionally loving people: rich or poor; red, yellow, black, or white; prostitute or pope; gay or straight. When people come into contact with you they must leave that encounter feeling without a shadow of doubt that Jesus loves them the best… because…

…we live like Jesus here in this world. 1 John 4:17b