does God love me?

Question

I have finally come round to believing in an almighty creator, after years of agnosticism. I have been won over by the intelligent design argument. However I am not convinced that God loves us. I play sims on the computer for example, I do not love my sims characters, they are just a mere curiosity, sure I created them and they are fun to watch, but I feel no love for them. Surely we are to God what the sims people are to me (much lower down the pecking order and not all that important). So why would God love us? Has he not got better things to do than think about us mere humans?

Answer 1

A philosophical argument for God's love is that it is His nature to love. Christian philosophers in times past have made the argument that Creation (and humans) exist only because of this. Why else would God create? Because He is love (as the bible says on numerous occasions). If God IS love, then it is only in his nature (it is natural for him) to create something TO love. And the bible also says clearly that God desires to be loved. Therefore, if it is His nature to want to share love (to love and to be loved), then it is simply natural for Him (because he can) to create something that He can love and that can also reciprocate that love. (This stems biblically from the notion that humans were created in His image, that He desires a relationship with us, that He wants us to Know him; that He wants us to love all others, even our enemies, to Love him, etc... all of these concepts are reiterated throughout the Old and New Testaments and in sacred texts of many other religions as well).

The concept that humans were created because God wants us to reciprocate His love is as old as religion itself. (To understand why some humans don't reciprocate love to God despite the fact that they are able to, you would have to understand the implications of the biblical "Fall of Man" and human "original sin."--so you can see how that gets more complicated, and I'd be writing a much longer answer if I tried to explain all of that here--that stuff is more about theology than philosophy anyway).

The bottom line is this: According to Christian philosophy God does love us (you included) and He knows us well. Now, he desires us to know Him and to love Him back. Of course, he gave us free will, so not everyone loves Him back, and not everyone believes He loves them. There are times in the bible, in fact, when entire populations either reject God's love or choose to deny God's existence (and thereby choose to not love Him). Sodom and Gomorrah, Noah's flood, etc: These are fine examples of where, in the bible, God actually did see men as little more than Sims characters, since they ignored Him and chose not to feel his love and reciprocate it. But as with Lot, and as with Noah and his family, God continued to faithfully love those who loved Him back, and he saw them as worth saving. The question, then, is at what point does God give up on us and see us as little more than Sims characters? Jesus touches on this point exactly, when he says the ONLY unforgivable sin is blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. What Christ meant by this was that in denying that the Holy Spirit exists a person denies that God exists. And since the Spirit is the vehicle God uses to communicate his love to humans, if you deny or knowingly reject the Spirit, then there is no way to know God's love. Again, it is at this point in time that one becomes little more than a Sims character to God. How CAN God love a person who chooses NOT to believe in God or in God's ability to love him? He can't; that is the one thing God cannot do. And that is why blaspheme against (or denial of) the Holy Spirit is the ONLY unforgivable sin.

This raises one more argument that I'll briefly mention before signing off. It is important to complete the philosophical explanation that answers your question. Free will. Sometimes critics try to refute Christian philosophy by saying, "If it really is God's nature to Love and to be Loved, and if that really is what motivated the creation of mankind, then why didn't God just make us robots that love him all the time no matter what? Why did he give us free will?"

The answer to this is simple: If we are unable to GIVE love freely as God gives it freely to us, then it devalues the concept of love. In fact, the concept of love wouldn't even be known to us if we didn't have the ability to NOT love. Does that make sense? By granting man the ability to NOT love, God gives us the ability to GIVE love. And when we choose to GIVE love out of our own appreciation for His love, it means all the world to God.

A summary:

1. It is God's nature to love, and God's desire to feel loved.

2. He created man for this purpose, so that He is able to love and be loved.

3. He gave us free will so that we are able to value love, and therefore know the value of His love, and willingly and appreciatively reciprocate it.


I know I can't win you over in one letter here on Yahoo Answers, but you are obviously a very intelligent person to have examined life and "self" in the way you have, and I hope my ramblings help you out some in your wise quest for knowledge. I've put some scriptures below that reference God's love, just in case anyone should want to look up scriptural support the Christian philosophy I've discussed. (Obviously I know that someone can believe in God and intelligent design without believing in Christian or Jewish scripture (which may be your case), but I just want you to know that this philosophy of love as I've discussed above is actually supported time and time again throughout the bible; in fact there's nothing in the bible that refutes the philosophical arguments I've used in this answer. Another interesting note is that all of the things I've said about love here can also be said of knowledge and wisdom (with slight tweaks)--that God created us to share knowledge with us and He desires us to seek knowledge from Him; to become wise and Know Him). "Philosophy," after all, means "Love of Wisdom." (The term philosophy derives from a combination of the Greek words philos meaning love and sophia meaning wisdom). The two go hand in hand. Both for God and for man.

Answer 2

the intelligent design argument.has been debunked many times, also a few times in a court of law. Evolutionary biology has explained many of the objections indicated by the I.D movement. For those outstanding questions It seems likely that they will also be explained in time. Although even if they are not it will just leave an unanswered question for biologists to deal with, which is what they do! Also any holes in the theory of evolution does not automatically give credence to the idea that "God did it". Anyone can posit a type of supernatural explaination, it's the duty of the creationists to give evidence for their own position, not to simply stand around criticising current accepted models or theories.

On the question of Gods love, well since I dont believe in a god then I'd have to say NO. If we go by the bible and also the reality of natural disasters, then I'd also have to say NO.
I think the question; "why do you need God's love" is a much more important and telling question.

Answer 3

Ok, well forget about the sims. The Sims are simply animated computer characters that have no soul, no heart, and no mind of their own. They are SYNTHETIC. So, please, don't compare humans to Sims because there is NO comparison. God made humans in his image, and it states in the Bible (not sure where) that humans were created by God for his pleasure and according to his will. It also states that the Father knows when the smallest sparrow falls from the tree. How much more does the Father watch out for the people that he made for his pleasure. And I don't mean perverted pleasure, to those sickos who may read this! God loves us and and his love does not depend on who we are, where we came from, what we've done, where we're going, or how successful we are. God sent Jesus to die on the cross so that he would not have to be separated from us forever. By his son's death on the cross, the ultimate Sacrifice was paid and the sins of the whole world were sacrificed with Jesus. In doing this, Jesus gained access for humans to go to heaven when they died.

Answer 4

It is extremely good that you've begun to believe in an almighty creator.

Between you and sims - You live, your sims do not

and between you and God - God lives - and you live a life that will soon end up in death. Since God does not desire that you should be eternally dead, out of LOVE FOR YOU, He sent his Son to die FOR YOU so that u can have eternal life.

Its a wrong concept you are nourishing that We are to God what sims are to you. - this incorrect ideology - dims your mind from seeing the reality and blinding you to the truth.

Yes, God has better things to do - and the BEST THING HE DOES is think about you, and help you attain salvation thru his son.

GOD LOVES YOU!!!!
John 3: 16

Answer 5

God is love. God cannot do anything but love his creations, since by definition he is love. You have the capacity to love, but you are not love embodied. What you create on a computer are not living, breathing entities with souls. You've drawn stick drawings with some animation, in other words.

Along with the love God IS for us (notice I didn't say has), God feels the things associated with love - sadness when man does wrong to man or another creation of his, joy when someone learns the truth.

Yes, God loves you. If you pay attention, you'll start to see miracles - even if they're just little ones - around you. While I pray, I tend to try to listen more - and by listening, I mean observing. I see God in so much.

Answer 6

Does God really exist? No, he doesn't! But if he does exist (because some people believe he does), he doesn't care about us. We've been taught as children that he has given us free will. Ok. But then everything I do is a sin... Who defines what a sin is? God? The Church? So I can't do anything... So I'm not given free will! I'm restrained to do certain things & if I do otherwise I'm quite doomed! I'm not saying I'm going to kill somebody - that is objectively wrong! But even small things are forbidden! So, does he really love us? Plus, when something bad happens to people who don't deserve it, he doesn't do anything! My cousin died a few years ago in a terrible car accident- he was 19 years old! He had done nothing wrong in his life. He was really rightuous. He shouldn't have died, yet he did. Where is the god of love in these cases? Others were punished, but in someone elses expense.... So, I like to believe in human power/ability & in factors (some you can control & some not), rather than in god! If he exists, he has no clue about fair play....

Answer 7

Okay, you cannot compare us as humans to Sims characters. I mean come on. You didn't truly create them the way God created us. God created Adam from DIRT. Did you create the Sims that way? We're not a game to God. We are His creations, His children. Do you have any kids? If you do, do you love them? If not, I know you see parents every day who love their children. Well, God loves us so much more than we can even BEGIN to love our children. Put your faith in Him. You'll see. I'm so glad you came around and realized the truth. I know it's hard when you first become a believer, but you'll start to see it more and more every day. Count your blessings. God gave you every single one of them. And anything bad that happens.....isn't really bad. God let it happen for a reason. We don't always see that. But it's true. Something bad may happen to prevent something even worse from happening. If you're in a car accident, maybe it was God's way to keep you from running over your own child in that car. You just have to stop and think of this stuff. God does love you, though. Read your Bible. I'm not one to talk because I almost never read mine, but I do know God loves me and I do know I need to and can do much better than I am. I hope this helps.

Answer 8

ok...... you shouldn't be comparing you playing the sims with our personal relationship with God. once you established the relationship with God personally you would be able to believe more how much he loves you..... Remember to read the bible daily!!!! your a baby Christian right now and your letting a game stop you from having faith in the true love of God, wish is obviously an attack of the enemy! so, remember that salvation is a gift, but you also have to put a lot of your part because what little you know could be taken away from you! so Talk to God everyday I know it sounds kinda silly at first but that's were it starts and ask him to help you with this problem your having. You could get a million answers here in yahoo but the only one true answer is from God! and hes waiting! because he knows everything that your going threw and he is eager to help! And this question that you have about God loving you......... Its judged to be true by the spirit that lives in you! God Bless<><

Answer 9

A good place to start finding this out for yourself is to attend a church service. You may not like the first church you attend but don't let that get you turned off. It took me about 10 different churches to find a pastor who I could connect with and who could get the message across to me. If you want to read your bible to find some answers look in Ephesians. It is basically about the Apostle Paul preparing for his death sentence by the Romans to be carried out. He spends his last days telling the people of the church he helped start that he was the worst of the worst sinners and God came through him and showed how he loved him and gave him a way to be saved into the Kingdom of Heaven. That's a starting point. I am a new Christian myself and am learning all of these things also.

Answer 10

You are being too intellectual about it all. You must lower your guard and try to have faith. You should also try a different approach to researching all of this. Go to a church for several Sundays and try applying the principles taught there to your lifestyle. It will take take sacrifice but it will be worth it. Also, read the Bible. The book of John is a good place to start. You can't do a sit at the computer and do a comprehensive study!

Answer 11

Very true.... we are very small and insignificant compared to God, however, there's a huge difference between God creating humanity and you creating a Sim.

I look at it more like your love of your own child. Your create that child and go through pain each time they hurt themselves or disobey your guidance. You want everything for them, but yet they go their own way and forget you... it breaks a parent's heart, just as it breaks God's heart when we stray from Him... although just like the loving Father he is, all we have to do is come back and ask forgiveness and he will take us into His arms again...

Humans cannot understand agape love... =)