God Loves Them Too: The Thought That Changes Everything
It's easy to love people who are easy to love. But what about the person who hurt your family? The neighbor who makes your life difficult? The one you've written off? God hasn't written them off.
5 min read
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." — John 3:16
There is a thought that, when it lands in your heart, has the power to dissolve anger, soften judgment, and open doors that seemed permanently closed.
The thought is this: *God loves them too.*
Not just you. Not just the people you love. Not just the people who deserve it. All of them. The difficult ones. The ones who hurt you. The ones you've stopped trying with.
What John 3:16 Actually Says
We quote John 3:16 so often that we can lose the weight of it. "For God so loved the world." Not the good part of the world. Not the part that was trying hard. The whole world — in all its brokenness, selfishness, and rebellion.
If God loved the world enough to send His Son into it, then the person you're struggling with right now is included in that love. That's not a comfortable thought. But it's a true one.
Why This Matters for Family Life
Some of the hardest people to love are the ones closest to us. A spouse who keeps repeating the same hurtful patterns. A child who seems determined to make destructive choices. A parent who never gave you what you needed.
When we're in the middle of that kind of pain, it's natural to build a case against the other person. To catalog their failures. To decide they're beyond help.
But when you remember that God loves them — that He sees them, knows them, and hasn't given up on them — it changes how you see them too.
This Doesn't Mean Excusing Harm
Remembering that God loves someone doesn't mean accepting abuse, enabling destructive behavior, or pretending that what happened didn't happen. Healthy boundaries are real and necessary.
But there's a difference between setting a boundary and writing someone off as a person. God doesn't write people off. And when we follow His example, we leave room for things to change — for healing, for repentance, for restoration.
A Simple Practice
The next time you find yourself building a case against someone — rehearsing their failures, hardening your heart — try stopping and saying, out loud if you need to: *"God loves them too."*
It won't fix everything. But it will remind you of something true. And truth has a way of softening what anger has hardened.
"I am the way and the truth and the life." — John 14:6
What does that mean? Read: The Most Important Thing →