--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: God loves Port William as it is... Why…" description: "\"“God loves Port William as it is... Why else should He want it to be better than it is? All my life I had heard preachers quoting John 3:16 \"For God so..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/wendell-berry-236_everlasting-life_god-loves-port-william-as-it-is-why-else_604042.jpg" --- # God loves Port William as it is... Why else should He want… ![“God loves Port William as it is... Why else should He want it to be better than it is? All my life I had heard preachers quoting John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish by have everlasting life." They would preach…” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/wendell-berry-236_everlasting-life_god-loves-port-william-as-it-is-why-else_604042.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/wendell-berry-236_everlasting-life_god-loves-port-william-as-it-is-why-else_604042.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/wendell-berry-236_everlasting-life_god-loves-port-william-as-it-is-why-else_604042.jpg) > ““God loves Port William as it is... Why else should He want it to be better than it is? All my life I had heard preachers quoting John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish by have everlasting life." They would preach on the second part of the verse, to show the easiness of being saved ("only believe"). Where I hung now was the first part. If God loved the world even before the event at Bethlehem, that meant He loved it as it was, with all its faults. That would be Hell itself, in part. He would be like a father with a wayward child, whom He can't help and can't forget. But it would be even worse than that, for He would also know the wayward child and the course of its waywardness and its suffering. That His love contains all the world does not show that the world does not matter, or that He and we do not suffer it unto death; it shows that the world is Hell only in part. But His love can contain it only by compassion and mercy, which, if not Hell entirely, would be at least a crucifixion.”” [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love can include imperfect reality, acknowledging suffering while offering compassion, not erasing pain. **In simple terms:** Love accepts flaws, offering mercy despite suffering. Key Takeaway Embrace compassion, recognize imperfection. Themes love compassion theodicy faith humanity Mood reflective somber hopeful Type philosophical spiritual inspirational When to use this quote - personal crisis - spiritual doubt - grief - ethical decision making Key Concepts theology existentialism ethics Questions to Reflect On - How do we love what hurts us? - Can compassion replace judgment? A Different Perspective It may be hard to reconcile love with suffering without denying pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Everlasting life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everlasting-life/) [God love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-love/) [God Loved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-loved/) [God Loves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-loves/) [God So Loved The World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-so-loved-the-world/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Preachers Quoting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preachers-quoting-4919032/) [Quoting John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quoting-john-4919031/) [Saved Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saved-believe-860375/) ## Related quotes > [My favorite verse in the bible is For God So Loved The World He Gave His Only Begotten Son That Whosoever Believeith In Him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/my-favorite-verse-in-the-bible-is-for-god-so-loved-the-world-he-gave/) [Unkown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unkown/) > [Our Saviour,Jusus Christ,loves all of us so much,that He saccrificed Hisself for our sins.And,in the Bible,it says, So God So Loved The World That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melesley-drye/our-saviour-jusus-christ-loves-all-of-us-so-much-that-he-saccrificed/) [MeLesley Drye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melesley-drye/) > [For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall have everlasting life. -John 3:16](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/for-god-so-loved-the-world-that-he-gave-his-only-begotten-son-that-6/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [“Here. 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The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corrie-ten-boom/who-can-add-to-christmas-the-perfect-motive-is-that-god-so-loved-the/) [Corrie Ten Boom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corrie-ten-boom/) > [“Precious to the Lord are the death of His saints." DEATH IS NOT FINAL. God has set eternity in the hearts of men. Why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-holdsworth/precious-to-the-lord-are-the-death-of-his-saints-death-is-not-final/) [David Holdsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-holdsworth/) > [“Because I am Beat, I believe in Beatitude and that God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son to it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/because-i-am-beat-i-believe-in-beatitude-and-that-god-so-loved-the/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he have his one and only son so that who ever believes in him shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holy-bible/john-3-16-for-god-so-loved-the-world-that-he-have-his-one-and-only/) [Holy Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holy-bible/) ## More by Wendell Berry > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. 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He was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-knew-a-man-who-in-the-age-of-chain-saws-went-right-on-cutting-his/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The concept of country, homeland, dwelling place becomes simplified as "the environment" -- that is, what surrounds us, we have already made a profound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-concept-of-country-homeland-dwelling-place-becomes-simplified-as/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/a-community-is-the-mental-and-spiritual-condition-of-knowing-that-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“That we can prescribe the terms of our own success, that we can live outside or in ignorance of the Great Economy are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/that-we-can-prescribe-the-terms-of-our-own-success-that-we-can-live/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The mind that comes to rest is tended In ways that it cannot intend: Is borne, preserved, and comprehended By what it cannot comprehend.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mind-that-comes-to-rest-is-tended-in-ways-that-it-cannot-intend/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The mercy of the world is time. Time does not stop for love, but it does not stop for death and grief, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mercy-of-the-world-is-time-time-does-not-stop-for-love-but-it/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The soil is the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-soil-is-the-great-connector-of-our-lives-the-source-and/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I dislike the thought that some animal has been made miserable to feed me. If I am going to eat meat, I want it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-dislike-the-thought-that-some-animal-has-been-made-miserable-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/laughter-is-immeasurable-be-joyful/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [These are people who are capable of devotion, public devotion, to justice. They meant what they said and every day that passes, they mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/these-are-people-who-are-capable-of-devotion-public-devotion-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) [Explore all 847 Wendell Berry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More Everlasting life quotes > [The foundation of the Christian's peace is everlasting; it is what no time, no change can destroy. 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It is quite true that God has of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-one-ever-came-to-christ-because-they-knew-themselves-to-be-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To me the purpose of art is to produce something alive...but with a separate, and of course one hopes, with an everlasting life of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-green/to-me-the-purpose-of-art-is-to-produce-something-alive-but-with-a/) [Henry Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-green/) > [Was it not most meet that a woman should first see the risen Saviour? She was first in the transgression; let her be first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/was-it-not-most-meet-that-a-woman-should-first-see-the-risen-saviour/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [“But that righteousness which God gives with everlasting life is upon those who believe and upon those only. Man must make the choice; he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-t-talbot/but-that-righteousness-which-god-gives-with-everlasting-life-is-upon/) [Louis T. Talbot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-t-talbot/) > [While I gave up God a long time ago, I never shook the habit of wanting to believe in something. So I replaced my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-vowell/while-i-gave-up-god-a-long-time-ago-i-never-shook-the-habit-of/) [Sarah Vowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-vowell/) > [“Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism each have founder figures— Muhammad, Jesus, and the Buddha, respectively. 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Hales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-hales/) > [“In the 1970s, while researching in the Library of Congress, I found an obscure history of religious architecture that assumed a fact as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/in-the-1970s-while-researching-in-the-library-of-congress-i-found-an/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesus/for-god-so-loved-the-world-that-he-gave-his-only-begotten-son-that/) [Jesus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesus/) > [“It is the season of giving, a season of love, 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euginia-herlihy/it-is-the-season-of-giving-a-season-of-love-for-god-so-loved-the/) [Euginia Herlihy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euginia-herlihy/) > [How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/how-much-do-you-have-to-hate-somebody-to-not-proselytize/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Everlasting life is a jewel of too great a value to be purchased by the wealth of this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/everlasting-life-is-a-jewel-of-too-great-a-value-to-be-purchased-by/) [Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/) [Browse all 110 Everlasting life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everlasting-life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“God loves Port William as it is... Why else should He want it to be better than it is? All my life I had heard preachers quoting John 3:16 \"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish by have everlasting life.\" They would preach on the second part of the verse, to show the easiness of being saved (\"only believe\"). Where I hung now was the first part. If God loved the world even before the event at Bethlehem, that meant He loved it as it was, with all its faults. That would be Hell itself, in part. He would be like a father with a wayward child, whom He can't help and can't forget. But it would be even worse than that, for He would also know the wayward child and the course of its waywardness and its suffering. That His love contains all the world does not show that the world does not matter, or that He and we do not suffer it unto death; it shows that the world is Hell only in part. 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