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The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.
C. S. Lewis
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Interpretation

What this quote means

God's love is the source of our goodness, not the result of it.

This quote by C. S. Lewis emphasizes the unconditional nature of God's love, suggesting that it is not our moral behavior that earns God's affection, but rather God's love that transforms us into better individuals. It presents a profound perspective on grace, highlighting the belief that true goodness comes from being loved, rather than striving for goodness to earn love.

Themes

LoveGraceGoodnessFaithTransformation

In practice

Example use cases

In a sermon about unconditional love, this quote can illustrate how divine love fosters our moral growth.

More from C. S. Lewis

A dogmatic belief in objective value is necessary to the very idea of a rule which is not tyranny or an obedience which is not slavery.
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I enjoyed my breakfast this morning, and I think that was a good thing and do not think it was condemned by God. But I do not think myself a good man for enjoying it.
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Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
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Forgiving and being forgiven are two names for the same thing. The important thing is that a discord has been resolved.
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I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. It doesn't change God - it changes me.
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The instrument through which you see God is your whole self. And if a man's self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred
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Quote by C. S. Lewis | QuoteProject