Titus 3:4-7 But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,… I was leaving a gentleman's house where I had been paying a visit, said a minister of the gospel, when I put this question to the servant maid who was about to open the door: "My friend, do you love God?" "I am afraid not," she answered, "and I fear I never shall." "Well." I said," you may at least depend on this — it is certain that God loves you." "How can you possibly tell that?" asked the master of the house, who was going downstairs with me. "This is the first time you have ever seen this woman; you know nothing about her character. You cannot tell whether she attends to her duties properly or not." "Never mind about that," I said, "It is certain that God loves her, and you too. I am quite sure of this, because God has told us that His love to us does Hot depend on what we are, or what we deserve. The Bible tells us, 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son' to die for it; and again it tells us, 'Herein is love; not that we loved God; but that God loved us, and sent His Son to die for our sins'" (1 John 4:10). "If that is so," said the gentleman, "and your words seem to prove it, what a shame it is that I don't love Him. May I say to myself, without any fear of making a mistake, 'It is certain that God loves me'?" "Indeed you may," I said; "and I pray to God you may soon be able to say, 'It is certain that I love Him.'" And Jesus may well be called a loving messenger, because He came into the world, not only to tell us this great truth, but also to be Himself the proof of it. (Richard Newton.) Parallel Verses KJV: But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,WEB: But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared, |
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