Does God love me?

[WilT]

What happens if you’re sent to hell? Does God still love you or does he forget about you?

I think if you find yourself in Hell you automatically have willed and chosen to live without God.

 

[WilT]

How can I become certain that God loves me? I know he had infinite love but I suffer from fear that I am excluded and I can’t shake it.

God does love you, me, and everyone that wants to know of Him through Christ Our Lord. What takes time and effort is to realize that and to daily thank Him for the life he has given us. God is love and everything around us is made from that love. The moment you search Him out He will be waiting first with open arms. We first must try to live a life away from sin so we can be pure of heart and experience His love.
With an unclean and inactive heart we can’t find Him.
Reading Scriptures, Changing our lives doing good, and praising God will send us forward quite quickly.

 

[Tom_Baum]

I think if you find yourself in Hell you automatically have willed and chosen to live without God.

I think that if one finds themself in hell that they will find that they have built it themself and that Jesus preceded them to their own hell.

And they will also, ultimately, find out that Jesus is, indeed, Lord of ALL and that God, in God’s Plan, won, purchased or however one wishes to look at it, Salvation for ALL.

And that God truly is in ALL, just as it is written.

Jesus, God-Incarnate, went to everyone’s hell by taking everyone’s sins upon Himself by His work on the cross.

Jesus did NOT go only to the “good hell” or the abode of the “good dead”, as some seem to interpret things, Jesus really did “pay the ransom”, just as it is written.

Jesus even told us from the cross when He said, “IT IS FINISHED” which translates as “Paid in Full”.

 

[Tom_Baum]

God does love you, me, and everyone that wants to know of Him through Christ Our Lord. What takes time and effort is to realize that and to daily thank Him for the life he has given us. God is love and everything around us is made from that love. The moment you search Him out He will be waiting first with open arms. We first must try to live a life away from sin so we can be pure of heart and experience His love.
With an unclean and inactive heart we can’t find Him.
Reading Scriptures, Changing our lives doing good, and praising God will send us forward quite quickly.

So, are you saying that all that stuff about God searching for the lost sheep, among other things written in this vein, is a bunch of hogwash?

Ever heard of Isaiah? “I am a man of unclean lips”

Ever heard of Peter? “Depart from me Lord, I am a sinner”

Ever heard of Thomas? “Unless I see…”

As it is written, “My Ways are not your ways and My Thoughts are not your thoughts”, just when one thinks that they know just how God does things, God goes and does things some other way.

God is not restricted to doing anything just how anyone thinks God should do it.

God can and does do things as God sees fit.

Who knows maybe God’s Mercy truly is Infinite, I, personally, believe that God’s Mercy Is Infinite.

 

[JosieN]

God does love you, me, and everyone that wants to know of Him through Christ Our Lord. What takes time and effort is to realize that and to daily thank Him for the life he has given us. God is love and everything around us is made from that love. The moment you search Him out He will be waiting first with open arms. We first must try to live a life away from sin so we can be pure of heart and experience His love.
With an unclean and inactive heart we can’t find Him.
Reading Scriptures, Changing our lives doing good, and praising God will send us forward quite quickly.

I agree, With an unclean and inactive heart we can’t find Him.
We must try not to sin again, and we must be sorry for our sins and not make excuses. I also believe as you do that reading Scriptures and changing our lives is important. God loves us but I also think He wants us to be obedient to His Will for us.

 

[JosieN]

So, are you saying that all that stuff about God searching for the lost sheep, among other things written in this vein, is a bunch of hogwash?

Ever heard of Isaiah? “I am a man of unclean lips”

Ever heard of Peter? “Depart from me Lord, I am a sinner”

Ever heard of Thomas? “Unless I see…”

As it is written, “My Ways are not your ways and My Thoughts are not your thoughts”, just when one thinks that they know just how God does things, God goes and does things some other way.

God is not restricted to doing anything just how anyone thinks God should do it.

God can and does do things as God sees fit.

Who knows maybe God’s Mercy truly is Infinite, I, personally, believe that God’s Mercy Is Infinite.

I don’t really understand what you mean. If someone commits a murder and is not sorry for his sin, and someone else tells a lie and is sorry, are they to be judged the same and all receive forgiveness? What do you mean by God’s mercy is infinite?

 

[Tom_Baum]

I don’t really understand what you mean. If someone commits a murder and is not sorry for his sin, and someone else tells a lie and is sorry, are they to be judged the same and all receive forgiveness? What do you mean by God’s mercy is infinite?

First off, have you ever heard the words, “Inifinite Mercy”, referred to as basically one word (Mercy) with the modifier (Infinite)?

As far as, “What do you mean by God’s mercy is infinite?”

Infinite: unbounded or unlimited; boundless; endless

Above is one of the definitions of “infinite”, that definition taken literally is what I believe God’s Mercy to be.

Second, God is our Judge, everyone’s Judge and everyone is judged individually.

Third, could very well be that God knows what God is doing and has a Plan which many seem to think God incapable of having.

 

[JosieN]

First off, have you ever heard the words, “Inifinite Mercy”, referred to as basically one word (Mercy) with the modifier (Infinite)?

As far as, “What do you mean by God’s mercy is infinite?”

Infinite: unbounded or unlimited; boundless; endless

Above is one of the definitions of “infinite”, that definition taken literally is what I believe God’s Mercy to be.

Second, God is our Judge, everyone’s Judge and everyone is judged individually.

Third, could very well be that God knows what God is doing and has a Plan which many seem to think God incapable of having.

The merits of Jesus’s wounds heal our sins but only if we or someone else prays for forgiveness, as in the prayer “Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven especially those in most need of Thy mercy”. I don’t think God is incapable of having a plan I know God has a plan. He has a plan for each one of us but I think that mercy requires something on our part also like doing penance, good deeds, prayers etc. and we need to be sorry. That is just my understanding and what I have been taught.

 

[Tom_Baum]

The merits of Jesus’s wounds heal our sins but only if we or someone else prays for forgiveness, as in the prayer “Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven especially those in most need of Thy mercy”. I don’t think God is incapable of having a plan I know God has a plan. He has a plan for each one of us but I think that mercy requires something on our part also like doing penance, good deeds, prayers etc. and we need to be sorry. That is just my understanding and what I have been taught.

Did you ever notice or think about the words in the prayer that you wrote?

“Forgive us our sins,”

“Our sins”, not my sins, not some of our sins but “Our sins”.

“save us from the fires of hell”

Not only “save us” as opposed to save some of us but also “save us” as opposed to keep us from hell.

“and lead all souls to heaven especially those in most need of Thy mercy”

“lead ALL souls to heaven”, pretty self explanatory, I would say.

“especially those in most need of Thy mercy”, don’t you think that this is quite a wonderful thing to ask of God?

Lots of people say and/or pray this prayer, many say and/or pray this prayer with the rosary but sometimes I wonder just how many actually think about how exquisite and catholic the words of this prayer are?

 

[JosieN]

Did you ever notice or think about the words in the prayer that you wrote?

“Forgive us our sins,”

“Our sins”, not my sins, not some of our sins but “Our sins”.

“save us from the fires of hell”

Not only “save us” as opposed to save some of us but also “save us” as opposed to keep us from hell.

“and lead all souls to heaven especially those in most need of Thy mercy”

“lead ALL souls to heaven”, pretty self explanatory, I would say.

“especially those in most need of Thy mercy”, don’t you think that this is quite a wonderful thing to ask of God?

Lots of people say and/or pray this prayer, many say and/or pray this prayer with the rosary but sometimes I wonder just how many actually think about how exquisite and catholic the words of this prayer are?

I agree especially since the Rosary is usually recited by a family or group saying it together. It makes the words more meaningful as it includes everyone in the group praying for all the souls in need of God’s mercy.

 

[ready]

How can I become certain that God loves me? I know he had infinite love but I suffer from fear that I am excluded and I can’t shake it.

If God did not love you He would not permit you to exist … He’d annihilate you. Also, God would not will that ALL men be saved as the Scripture says if He did not love ALL men including you. God bless you.

 

[Neoplatonist]

If God did not love you He would not permit you to exist … He’d annihilate you. Also, God would not will that ALL men be saved as the Scripture says if He did not love ALL men including you. God bless you.

Do we only allow things we love to exist? Seems to be a false dilemma.

 

[ready]

Do we only allow things we love to exist? Seems to be a false dilemma.

But we are not God and should never EVER judge Him by our own standards. St. Augustine, one of the four Church Fathers, teaches us that if something were to have no goodness about it, then God would annihilate it. And we know from Church teaching that God loves all that He created and created everything good. God bless you.

 

[Neoplatonist]

But we are not God and should never EVER judge Him by our own standards. St. Augustine, one of the four Church Fathers, teaches us that if something were to have no goodness about it, then God would annihilate it. And we know from Church teaching that God loves all that He created and created everything good. God bless you.

Yeah, sounds like something Augustine or one of the Scholastics would’ve said. Of course, that would mean God loves boogers and hemorrhoids and those brain-infesting parasites from cat feces, too. Not sure “loved enough to not be annihilated” is the comforting thought for which some of us were hoping.

 

[ready]

Yeah, sounds like something Augustine or one of the Scholastics would’ve said. Of course, that would mean God loves boogers and hemorrhoids and those brain-infesting parasites from cat feces, too. Not sure “loved enough to not be annihilated” is the comforting thought for which some of us were hoping.

Each ugly thing you mentioned has something good about it, and God knows this and keeps them in existence because He knows this. Even if the original poster were a mass murderer or a major con artist – a bad person, God would still love Him, while hating his condition. God would love him because this bad person is made in His own image, with an intellect and a will, and God knows that the murderer and major con artist has being, a good thing: and as long as that bad person has being he can change into a good being worthy of salvation, and God knows this. My simple point is that NOBODY in existence, as good or bad as they are, can say that God does not love him/her, given what St. Augustine and the Church teaches. To do so is to deny the truth and to be unfair. God bless you.

 

[Neoplatonist]

Each ugly thing you mentioned has something good about it, and God knows this and keeps them in existence because He knows this. Even if the original poster were a mass murderer or a major con artist – a bad person, God would still love Him, while hating his condition. God would love him because this bad person is made in His own image, with an intellect and a will, and God knows that the murderer and major con artist has being, a good thing: and as long as that bad person has being he can change into a good being worthy of salvation, and God knows this. My simple point is that NOBODY in existence, as good or bad as they are, can say that God does not love him/her, given what St. Augustine and the Church teaches. To do so is to deny the truth and to be unfair. God bless you.

But wouldn’t we really think of “love” in this sense as being significantly different than what we normally mean by the term. Consider any sentence we might normally use to express love, and into that substitute instead the phrase “would not annihilate you any more than I would annihilate brain parasites or hemorrhoids.” It would not exactly warm our hearts or console us in our moments of self-doubt or fear, right?

 

[davidv]

But wouldn’t we really think of “love” in this sense as being significantly different than what we normally mean by the term. Consider any sentence we might normally use to express love, and into that substitute instead the phrase “would not annihilate you any more than I would annihilate brain parasites or hemorrhoids.” It would not exactly warm our hearts or console us in our moments of self-doubt or fear, right?

I don’t think this is right. What do you think the word love means in the prior poster’s use of the word in their post?

E.g., “…My simple point is that NOBODY in existence, as good or bad as they are, can say that God does not love him/her…”

 

[Neoplatonist]

I don’t think this is right. What do you think the word love means in the prior poster’s use of the word in their post?

E.g., “…My simple point is that NOBODY in existence, as good or bad as they are, can say that God does not love him/her…”

I’m working from the poster’s explanation of what it is that we can be assured of with respect to God. The choices set out were “love” or “annihilation.”

 

[davidv]

I’m working from the poster’s explanation of what it is that we can be assured of with respect to God. The choices set out were “love” or “annihilation.”

Why are those the only choices? That is not what I read in ready’s posts.

 

[Neoplatonist]

Why are those the only choices? That is not what I read in ready’s posts.

To paraphrase: God doesn’t annihilate you, therefore he loves you. Maybe I’m not seeing something you’re seeing. ?]