Joel Osteen - Knowing You Are Loved (05/06/2017)
Joel Osteen shares in this heartfelt message that God’s love for us is unconditional, unchanging, and not based on our performance or mistakes—it’s a great love we simply need to receive by faith. Using personal stories, the examples of John the disciple, Zacchaeus, and the woman caught in adultery, he urges us to move from an «I think God loves me» mindset to boldly knowing «I know I’m the one He loves,» for this realization brings freedom, confidence, and strength.
From «I Think» to «I Know» God’s Love
I want to talk to you today about knowing you are loved. When Victoria and I had been dating for about nine months, a friend of mine called me secretly. She said, «Joel, I just talked to Victoria. Do not tell her that I called, but she told me she thinks she loves you.»
My friend was so excited; she was waiting for me to join in the excitement. But I had a problem with two words: «she thinks.» If she thinks she loves me, that means maybe she does, maybe she does not. She is still trying to figure it out. It could go either way. «She thinks» did not give me any confidence at all. In fact, it made me think, «I need to perform better. I need to do more, try to impress, be good enough.» «She thinks» put me under more pressure.
Eventually, I am happy to say Victoria came to her senses, and she went from «I think» to «I know, ” and that was over thirty years ago. But when you know somebody loves you, it puts you at ease. You do not have to try to perform and impress, be good enough. You can relax, be yourself. You are comfortable; you are secure. But a lot of people live with this „I think he loves me“ mentality when it comes to God. They base it on their performance. „I went to church last week. I did good. I think he loves me. I volunteered at the hospital. I was kind to my neighbor. I resisted temptation. I earned his love.“
God’s Love Is Unconditional and Unchanging
The problem with this approach is when we make mistakes, we get off course, we do not perform perfectly, we think God goes and finds somebody else to love. After all, if you do not love me, human nature says I am not going to love you back. But God is not like people. People can love you conditionally. If you do right, perform right, treat me right, then I will love you. But if you let me down, I will go find somebody else.
When we make mistakes, God does not change His mind. You can run away from God; instead of turning the other way, God will come running toward you. Quit trying to earn this love. There is nothing you can do to make God love you any more or any less. It is a gift. Just receive it by faith. Sometimes we are trying to clean ourselves up, get good enough, then we will believe God really loves us. But take the pressure off. God loves you right now. He loved you when you were wrong; He loved you when you were off course. Paul said nothing can separate us from the love of God. You are a marked man, a marked woman.
God put His love on you. Now you are permanently loved. The Psalmist said, „If I go down to the depth of the ocean, God, You are there. If I go way up into the heavens, God, You are still there.“ You cannot get away from this love. „Well, Joel, I am an atheist. I do not believe in God.“ He still loves you. „I have made mistakes. I have had a rough past.“ Nothing you have done has changed God’s love. „I have an addiction. I still struggle with my temper.“ That did not cancel this love. The scripture talks about the great love with which God loved us. It was not a little love, an „I think“ love, a conditional love. It was a great love. We think about how much we love God, but what is more profound is how much God loves you.
God Knows You Intimately and Completely
Before you were formed in your mother’s womb, God knew you. He took time to plan out all of your days. He knows your thoughts before you think them. He knows your words before you speak them. Jesus said the hairs on your head are all numbered. Now, I love Victoria, but I have never taken time to number her hairs. „Numbered“ does not mean there are 54,623—that is counting. Numbered means this is hair number 21,238. Every time you take a shower, every time we lose a hair, God has to renumber.
There was a popular book turned into a movie a few years ago; it was called „He’s Just Not That Into You.“ It was about guys not really liking a girl. Can I tell you, God is just the opposite? He is way into you. If He is taking the time to number your hairs, to know your thoughts, to plan out all of your days, do you really think there is anything you can do to cause Him to stop loving you? But how God must feel when we go around thinking, „I think He loves me. I think I am good enough. I think I have not done too much wrong.“ Get rid of the „I think“ mentality and start having an „I know“ mentality. It is very freeing when you can say, „I know God loves me. I know I am the apple of His eye. I know He is smiling down on me.“
Voices will whisper, „Not you. You have made mistakes. You lost your temper. You are not religious enough.“ God does not love you because you are religious or good enough or come from a certain family. He loves you because you are His child. He breathed His life into you. When you receive this love, you will live with a confidence. When you go from „I think“ to „I know, ” you will quit trying to earn it, quit trying to be good enough. You will live secure, knowing that your Heavenly Father loves you.
John: The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved
In the Bible, the Book of John was written by the disciple John. What is interesting is he never referred to himself as John. When he talked about himself, instead of using his name, he said, „the disciple whom Jesus loved.“ In John 13, he wrote, „The disciple whom Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus.“ He could have just written, „John was sitting next to Jesus.“ When Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote their books, their accounts of the Gospel, they referred to themselves using their own name.
Can you imagine if they would have read John’s account? They would have thought, „Who does John think he is, describing himself as the one Jesus loved? Jesus loved us all. The nerve of that guy.“ But John had an incredible confidence not just in how much he loved God, but in how much God loved him. Four times he referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. You would think, „All right, John, we got it the first time. We heard you loud and clear. You think you are the one He loves; you do not have to keep telling us.“ But in chapter 19, he wrote again, „When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom Jesus loved.“
Now, you know Jesus loved His mother. In fact, He probably loved His mother more than He loved John. But John did not take the time to tell us how much He loved His mother; he just reiterated the fact he was the one Jesus loved. Now, you can fault him for it, but I have to give him credit. He knew how much he was loved.
Two chapters later, John wrote, „The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter.“ It is funny; he did not say, „The disciple whom Jesus loved said to the other disciple whom Jesus loved.“ You could take this as being arrogant, self-centered, but John was showing us the confidence he had in how much he knew God loved him. When you can do like John—maybe not announce it to everybody, do not put it on your business card—but in your heart, „I am the one that He loves.“ You wake up in the morning, „Good morning, Lord, it is the one that You love.“ All through the day, „Lord, I love You, and I know I am the one You love.“
Mary and Martha Remind Jesus of His Love for Lazarus
When Lazarus was very sick and close to death, his two sisters, Mary and Martha, sent a note to their good friend Jesus, asking Him to come and pray for Lazarus. Jesus was in another city. The note did not say, „Jesus, we are begging You, please come pray for Lazarus. Jesus, You know Lazarus is a good man. You know how much he loves You.“ Instead, the note read, „Jesus, the one You love is sick.“
They did not tell Jesus how much Lazarus loved Him. They thought it would be more persuasive, more effective to remind Jesus how much He loved Lazarus. Sometimes we are trying to convince God that we love Him: „God, I went to church last week. God, I bit my tongue at the office when I felt like telling them off. God, I have been performing perfectly. Would You please help me?“ Why do you not do like Mary and Martha and say, „Lord, the one You love needs healing. The one You love is lonely. The one You love has a child that is off course.“
What moves God is not just your love for Him, but recognizing His love for you. It pleases God when you know you are dearly loved. That is why the scripture says, „Come boldly to the throne. Do not go like a weak worm of the dust.“
Boldness Comes from Knowing You Are Loved
If my son came up to me half embarrassed, ashamed, head down, „Dad, I hate to bother you. I know you are busy. I do not deserve it. It is just little old me, but Dad, I am just begging you, would you help me in this area?“ I would not feel sorry for him; I would feel bad about myself. As a father, I would think, „What have I done wrong? My son comes to me so inferior, feeling unworthy, begging me for a little help.“ It is not my lack of love for my son—I would give him the world. It is his lack of knowing how much he is loved. Now, I am happy to say my children do not feel that way. They know how much they are loved, and they are not afraid to ask.
When our daughter Alexandra was ten years old, she was going out to eat with her cousins, and they were about to go ice skating. She came up to me in the den and said, „Dad, can I have $20 to go out to eat and go ice skating?“ I said, „Sure, go back and get it off my bathroom counter where I keep my keys.“ She gave me a kiss and said thank you. Then she turned and started walking toward the garage—the wrong way. I said, „Wait a minute, are you not going to go get the money?“ She smiled and said, „I already got it.“ She said, „I knew you would say yes.“
That made me feel good as a father. She knows how much I love her. She is not living with an „I think“ mentality: „I hope he loves me. If I perform good enough, he will love me.“ She has no doubt: „My father loves me.“ What if we felt that same way about our Heavenly Father? You want to make God smile? You want to make His day? Start approaching Him like you know He loves you, you know He is for you, you know He is longing to be good to you. It does not bring God any pleasure for us to go around insecure, unworthy, beating ourselves up for past mistakes. Shake that off and start going boldly to the throne.
Our daughter Alexandra is in college now. She called Victoria a few months ago and told her how their sorority was having the big mother-daughter weekend and wanted to make sure that Victoria could come. She gave Victoria the date; it just so happened it was this weekend. Victoria said, „Oh, Alexandra, we have a Night of Hope that Friday night, plus Dad and I are supposed to speak at Lakewood that weekend, and Dad really does not like me to miss.“ Alexandra said, „Oh Mom, do not worry. I will call Dad; he will do anything that I ask.“
She called, and you notice they are not here. You know why Alexandra could have that boldness? She knows she is the one I love. She knows she is my prized possession. She knows I will go out of my way to be good to her. She is my child. Now, I will be good to your child—I will be kind, loving, generous—but let us be honest: if it is between your child and my child, I am going to choose my child. That is my daughter; she is my favorite.
You Are God’s Favorite
That is the way God feels about you. You are His child. Can I tell you a secret? Do not tell anyone; keep it confidential—you are His favorite. You are the one that He loves. I have heard it said God has no favorites. I think that is wrong. God has all favorites. You are His favorite, you are His favorite, you are His favorite, you are His favorite.
God has the amazing ability to treat us all like we are His favorite. He is not like people; He does not have to pick and choose. He has unlimited love. He does not just show love; He does not just express love—He is love. That is not what He does; it is who He is. When you start seeing yourself as His favorite, you will go to Him with confidence. You will pray bold prayers; you will ask Him for your dreams; you will believe for your health to turn around; you will expect new doors to open—not because of who you are, but because of who your Father is. You know He will go out of my way to be good to you.
I grew up with five siblings, and my sister April is the youngest. She always felt like she was the favorite of the family. The truth is my parents had more resources when she came along. My older brother Paul is twelve years older than April, and from a young age April started telling us all that she was our parents’ favorite.
Now, that never bothered me because I knew she was not—I was. But she has been doing this so long; now when my mother sends us kids a group text, it lists our names at the top: Paul, Lisa, Tamara, Joel. Instead of April, it says „favorite.“ I had my mother’s cell phone one time; under the contacts, she has April stored as „favorite.“ Now, that is not right.
I can imagine if God had a cell phone, you would be stored under „favorite.“ Not Joseph Rodriguez—“favorite Rodriguez, ” „favorite Smith, ” „favorite Edward, ” „favorite Rebecca.“ We are all His favorite. You are the one that He loves. „Well, not me, Joel. You do not know the mistakes I have made. I do not know the past I have lived. When I clean myself up, I know God will love me a lot more.“ Nothing you can do will make God love you any more. You might as well believe you are His favorite right now. Now, He may not be pleased with all your behavior, but that does not change His love for you.
Receiving God’s Love Lifts You Up
When we go around guilty, beating ourselves up, that does not help you to do better. It pushes you down, causes you to struggle more. But when you receive God’s love and know, despite your shortcomings, He is still proud of you—He still says you are amazing, He still calls you a masterpiece—that is what lifts your spirit. That is what gives you the strength to do better and to break those chains that are holding you back.
Zacchaeus: Chosen Despite His Past
In Luke chapter 19, there is the story of Zacchaeus. He was a tax collector, and back in those days they were known for being dishonest, for cheating people. They were very disliked, even hated. Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector. He was especially despised, looked down on by everyone—not just figuratively, but even physically he was very short. One day Jesus came passing through their town, and word spread quickly.
Everyone went out to try to get a glimpse of Jesus, including Zacchaeus. But it was so crowded—so many throngs of people—Zacchaeus could not see anything. He was too short. Rather than give up, he decided to climb up in a tree. He got in perfect position, had a great viewpoint. In a few minutes Jesus came walking down the street. I can imagine Zacchaeus was in awe. He had heard how Jesus had healed the sick, opened blind eyes, cured the lepers. Now Jesus was passing right in front of him; it was an amazing moment. Hundreds of people were trying to touch Jesus, get His attention.
All of a sudden, in the midst of the commotion, Jesus stopped. Everyone froze, thinking, „Why is He stopping?“ They got quiet: „He is going to say something.“ Jesus turned and looked up in the tree. Time stopped for Zacchaeus. Every eye was focused on him. Zacchaeus knew he was hated; he knew he had cheated, done people wrong. He was waiting for Jesus to let him have it. But Jesus said, „Zacchaeus, come down from the tree. I want to go to your house and have dinner.“
At that moment, I believe Zacchaeus felt something that he had never felt. Something on the inside said, „Zacchaeus, you are the one that He loves.“ Out of all the people there that day—no doubt there were rabbis, elders in the synagogue, respected leaders—Jesus could have gone to dinner with any of them. But He was making this point: you do not have to have it all together for God to love you. You do not have to clean yourself up, then you can come down out of the tree, then you can go to dinner. If that was the case, none of us would have had a chance.
What is interesting is the name Zacchaeus means „pure one.“ I doubt if anyone in that crowd ever called him Zacchaeus. They probably called him fraud, crook, cheater. One version says they called him scum. Jesus could have looked up in the tree and said, „Hey you, come down. Hey, mister. Hey, sir.“ Or „Somebody get that guy for me.“ But on purpose Jesus said, „Zacchaeus, pure one, come down. I want to go to your house for dinner.“
Jesus Sees You as Pure and Loved
The religious leaders nearly passed out. They said, „Why would He go to dinner with such a notorious sinner?“ We do not see people the way God sees them. We look at their behavior, how perfectly they perform. God looks beyond all that. They saw a notorious sinner; God saw the one that He loved. You may have made mistakes—like Zacchaeus you got off course; you know you are not where you should be. But if Jesus came passing by today, He would not say, „Hey Joel, come on man, let us go to lunch. You got that big church. Hey, sister do-right, you have not made a mistake in thirty-three years; I am proud of you. Let us go get something to eat.“
He would pass by all the people that looked like they have it together; He would come to you. You are the one that He loves. You may be up in the tree trying to hide, dealing with issues. Can I tell you, we all have issues. God is saying, „Come down, pure one. Come down, forgiven child. Come down, redeemed daughter. Come down, favorite one.“ Jesus’ point in choosing Zacchaeus over all the other, quote, good people was to let us know your performance does not determine God’s love for you. „Well, Joel, if I can break this bad habit, if I can stop this addiction, I know He will love me a lot more.“ No, He will be more pleased with your behavior; your life will go better, but that does not affect God’s love for you. He is calling you „pure one“ right now.
Will you receive this love? Will you come down and go to dinner, so to speak? Or are you going to stay up in that tree and let condemning voices convince you that you are all washed up? You have to shake that off and say it by faith: „Lord, I believe I am the one You love. I believe despite my failures, despite my mistakes, You still have a great plan for my life.“ 1 John 4 says, „This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice for our sins.“ Real love is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us. When we try to perform to gain this love, the problem is we will never measure up. There will always be something we cannot do right, some reason we cannot feel good about ourselves. Why do you not take the pressure off and receive real love—God’s love for you?
The Woman Caught in Adultery: No Condemnation First
That is what the lady had to do in John chapter 8. The religious leaders brought her to Jesus; she was caught in the act of adultery. They threw her at His feet, said, „The law says stone her. What do You say we should do?“ Jesus said, „You that are without sin throw the first stone.“ They all left, from the oldest to the youngest. Jesus asked the woman, „Where are your accusers? Has not anyone condemned you?“ She said, „No man, Lord.“ He said, „Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.“
He did not say, „Go and sin no more, then I will not condemn you. Change your ways, get your act together, quit giving in to the temptation, then I will love you, then I will be for you.“ Just the opposite. He said, „I do not condemn you“ first. Before He talked about her behavior, before He addressed the issues, Jesus wanted to make sure she knew she was the one that He loved. When she felt this real love—when she realized the one person that could have condemned her would not do it—I believe something happened on the inside. She walked out of there a changed woman.
But sometimes religion tells us, „Clean yourself up, then God will love you. Do right, perform correctly. If not, God will not have anything to do with you.“ That is not real love; that is conditional love. If you do good enough, if you measure up, then God will help you. Real love is not about your performance, what you do or do not do. It is about what God has already done. It is not based on how much you love God; it is based on how much God loves you.
Your Heavenly Father’s Face Is Turned Toward You
When my brother Paul was a little boy—before any of us siblings were born—my parents would put him in his bed at night, and then they would go and get in their own bed. Their rooms were just a few feet apart, down a short hallway. My father would always say, „Goodnight, Paul, ” and Paul would answer back, „Goodnight, Daddy. Goodnight, Mother.“
One night, for some reason, Paul was a little afraid. A couple minutes after they had said their goodnights, Paul said, „Daddy, are you still in there?“ My father said, „Yes, Paul, I am still here.“ It was quiet for a few seconds; then Paul asked, „Daddy, is your face turned toward me?“ My father said, „Yes, Paul, my face is turned toward you.“ Somehow it made Paul feel better just knowing that his father’s face was turned toward him.
Can I tell you today, your Heavenly Father’s face is turned toward you? You are the one that He loves. You are His favorite child. He is not counting your mistakes against you; He is calling you „pure one.“
My challenge is: receive this love. All through the day, „Lord, thank You that I am the one You love. Thank You that Your face is turned toward me.“
Remember, real love is not about your love for God; it is recognizing the great love God has for you. If you will do this, I believe and declare you are going to live confident, secure, overcoming obstacles, rising higher, and becoming everything He has created you to be, in Jesus’ name.