On February 10, 2006, Joshua Coleman Myers entered the world.

Before Cole was born, I worried about his arrival. I worried about whether I could love him as much as I love Chloe.

I know, I know, that sounds pretty ridiculous, but that was my fear.

What if I found myself favoring her over him, simply because she’s the first born and has been here longer?

I was also afraid that my love for Chloe would have to diminish in order to accommodate my love for Cole.
How could that happen? I love her so much, yet a daddy’s heart is only so big.

In order to make room for my love for Cole, would I have to reduce the amount of my love for Chloe?
Would I have to split my capacity for love between the two of them so that each one of them received half of my love?

Well, once Cole was born and I held him for the first time, I knew my fears were unfounded.

He was beautiful. I know I probably shouldn’t use that word to describe a boy, but he was. He was absolutely beautiful.

Two eyes, two ears, a nose, a mouth and twelve little fingers and toes.
Just kidding. I wanted to make sure you were paying attention.

I learned a very important lesson right then. As a father, I don’t have to diminish my love for one child in order to accommodate my love for the other.

I don’t have to split my love between my children. Instead, both children receive all my love, while neither child loses any of it.

I know that doesn’t make much sense, but such is the love of a father. And such is the love of your heavenly father.

Do you think God loves someone more than he loves you simply because that person’s been a Christian for a longer time than you have? Absolutely not!

Do you think God loves you less when another person comes to Christ, because he then has to reapportion his love to accommodate them? Again, the answer is a resounding NO!

All of God’s children receive all of his love, while no child loses any of it.

And what an awesome love it is. Look at John 3:16, with my added notations. “(1) For God so loved the world, (2) that he gave his only begotten son, (3) that whoever believes in him shall not perish, (4) but have eternal life.”

Here are a few things this verse tells us about God’s love: (1) God loves the world. That includes you. There are no qualification to that statement such as, “God so loved the world, but he loved some people more than others.” (2) Because God loves the world, he sent his son to die for our sins. (3) Because God loves the world, belief in Jesus Christ as your savior will save you from eternal death. (4) In fact, belief in Jesus Christ as your savior will grant you eternal life.

God loves you. He loves you just as much as he loves me, and every other child of his. There are no second-rate children in the family of God.

And don’t you ever forget it.

Parrish Myers is pastor of Pine Crest Baptist Church in Gainesville.