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The Steadfast Love of the Lord: Experiencing the Life-Changing Power of God's Unchanging Affection
Clear, Biblical Picture of God’s Unconditional Love for His Children
Many believers know that “God is love.” But whether through cultural lies, false beliefs, or years of mulling over the tragedies of the world, it may be difficult to see the true, steadfast, and unchanging love of the Father. Thankfully the Bible offers a clear picture of what God’s love looks like and how, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, believers experience his affection for themselves.
Taking an accessible approach to biblical theology, author Sam Storms explores Scripture to address what God’s love is and what it isn’t. Drawing insights from the Psalms and the life of Jesus, Storms covers God’s sovereignty and the saving power, longevity, and sin-killing nature of his love. The Steadfast Love of the Lord breaks down obstacles that prevent believers from accepting biblical truths and challenges the cultural lies that hinder them from accepting God’s vast and unfathomable love.
Accessible: An introductory approach to biblical theology, this book is perfect for laypeople and thoughtful Christians
Practical: Not only helps believers study the nature of God but helps them experience his affection for themselves
Honest: From a biblical perspective, this book addresses the cultural lies of our age to explain what love is and what it isn’t
Many believers know that “God is love.” But whether through cultural lies, false beliefs, or years of mulling over the tragedies of the world, it may be difficult to see the true, steadfast, and unchanging love of the Father. Thankfully the Bible offers a clear picture of what God’s love looks like and how, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, believers experience his affection for themselves.
Taking an accessible approach to biblical theology, author Sam Storms explores Scripture to address what God’s love is and what it isn’t. Drawing insights from the Psalms and the life of Jesus, Storms covers God’s sovereignty and the saving power, longevity, and sin-killing nature of his love. The Steadfast Love of the Lord breaks down obstacles that prevent believers from accepting biblical truths and challenges the cultural lies that hinder them from accepting God’s vast and unfathomable love.
Accessible: An introductory approach to biblical theology, this book is perfect for laypeople and thoughtful Christians
Practical: Not only helps believers study the nature of God but helps them experience his affection for themselves
Honest: From a biblical perspective, this book addresses the cultural lies of our age to explain what love is and what it isn’t
240 pages, Paperback
Published February 4, 2025
32 people are currently reading
346 people want to read
About the author
Sam Storms
81 books138 followers(Some early works written as C. Samuel Storms)
Sam has spent 39 years in ministry as a pastor, professor and author. He was visiting Associate Professor of Theology at Wheaton College from 2000-2004, and is currently Lead Pastor for Preaching and Vision at Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City. He has authored 22 books and founded Enjoying God Ministries. He's a graduate of The University of Oklahoma (B.A.), Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M) and The University of Texas (Ph.D.). He and his wife Ann have been married for 40 years and are the parents of two grown daughters and have four grandchildren. On a more personal level, Sam loves baseball, books, movies, and anything to do with the Oklahoma Sooners.
Sam has spent 39 years in ministry as a pastor, professor and author. He was visiting Associate Professor of Theology at Wheaton College from 2000-2004, and is currently Lead Pastor for Preaching and Vision at Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City. He has authored 22 books and founded Enjoying God Ministries. He's a graduate of The University of Oklahoma (B.A.), Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M) and The University of Texas (Ph.D.). He and his wife Ann have been married for 40 years and are the parents of two grown daughters and have four grandchildren. On a more personal level, Sam loves baseball, books, movies, and anything to do with the Oklahoma Sooners.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 18, 2025
This book dove so deeply into what the love of the Lord looks like and how we can remain in it, and how we can share it with those around us. Reading an entire book focused on the unbelievable love of the Father has ultimately made His love even more unbelievable.
Here are some of my highlights:
“The point is not that the world is so big that it takes a great quantity of love to love it all. The point is that the world is so bad that it takes an amazing kind of love to love it at all.”
“Jesus didn’t die for Bible readers or truth tellers or tithers or people who regularly pray. He didn’t die for nor does he justify Baptists, Presbyterians, charismatics, Methodists, Jews, or Gentiles. The only people Jesus died for and the only people God justifies are “ungodly” people! He didn’t die for only Republicans or only Democrats or only those who do not identify with either political party. He didn’t die only for those who have at least $ 500,000 in their 401( k) or a graduate degree from an accredited university. The only people he died for were “ungodly” people.”
“never lose sight of the assurance that Jeremiah provides in Lamentations 3: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (3: 22–23). This book is now at an end, soon this day will come to an end, and even your life on this earth. But God’s steadfast love never will.”
Here are some of my highlights:
“The point is not that the world is so big that it takes a great quantity of love to love it all. The point is that the world is so bad that it takes an amazing kind of love to love it at all.”
“Jesus didn’t die for Bible readers or truth tellers or tithers or people who regularly pray. He didn’t die for nor does he justify Baptists, Presbyterians, charismatics, Methodists, Jews, or Gentiles. The only people Jesus died for and the only people God justifies are “ungodly” people! He didn’t die for only Republicans or only Democrats or only those who do not identify with either political party. He didn’t die only for those who have at least $ 500,000 in their 401( k) or a graduate degree from an accredited university. The only people he died for were “ungodly” people.”
“never lose sight of the assurance that Jeremiah provides in Lamentations 3: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (3: 22–23). This book is now at an end, soon this day will come to an end, and even your life on this earth. But God’s steadfast love never will.”
April 17, 2025
John Piper has famously said that books don't change people; paragraphs and sentences do, and that is maximally true of this book. Here are a few:
"God wants you to be captivated in body, soul, and spirit, to be overwhelmed in the depth of your affections with a tangible sense of his passion and presence."
"To consider Almighty God sinking in contemplations of love over a once-wretched human being can hardly be absorbed by the human mind."
"Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that when God thinks about you, feels for you, and sees you, he opens his mouth, and, with joy inexpressible, he sings!"
"It takes God's power to believe in God. When God says in such breathtaking terms as he did through Jesus in passages like John 13, "I love you," it takes God himself to enable us to believe him."
"Here is a woman who probably never knew what it was like to be enjoyed as a person until she met Jesus, the friend of sinners."
"God wants you to be captivated in body, soul, and spirit, to be overwhelmed in the depth of your affections with a tangible sense of his passion and presence."
"To consider Almighty God sinking in contemplations of love over a once-wretched human being can hardly be absorbed by the human mind."
"Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that when God thinks about you, feels for you, and sees you, he opens his mouth, and, with joy inexpressible, he sings!"
"It takes God's power to believe in God. When God says in such breathtaking terms as he did through Jesus in passages like John 13, "I love you," it takes God himself to enable us to believe him."
"Here is a woman who probably never knew what it was like to be enjoyed as a person until she met Jesus, the friend of sinners."
April 23, 2025
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (Jn 6:68) If God’s love isn’t real and steady and ultimately steadfast, what hope do any of us have? To what philosophy of life will we turn?”
Sam Storms begins his book by confessing that he doubts the love of the Lord. He sees the tragedy and evil in the world and he, like I think most of us, wonders where God is and what he is doing. Is his love for us real?
How can he write a book about God’s love?
“the only way I was going to press through this dark season in my soul was to bathe it in the repeated theme of Scripture that ‘the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.’ (Lam 3:22)”
We might never be able to explain all the evil or the tragedies and hardships we encounter, but I love what he says here:
“I cannot, I will not, allow my intellectual shortcomings to account for the problem of evil to blind me to the bright light of the everlasting, unchanging, soul-saving, steadfast love of God.”
And so this book looks at what Scripture tells us about who God is and how he loves us. In Lamentations, right before verse 22 that’s quoted above, Jeremiah says, ‘This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.’
If we have lost our hope, then we need to do a better job of calling to mind the truths that God has revealed to us about himself. And Sam Storms does a wonderful job sharing them with us in this book.
I appreciated Dane Ortlund’s (Gentle and Lowly) foreword in this book because he focuses on who Sam Storms is. Storms covers a few touchy or controversial topics in his book and so when we read this we may say- well who does Sam think he is? why should I listen to him?
Ortlund says that Storms is four things: an exegete (trained well in handling the Scriptures in the original languages), a theologian (thinking deeply and biblically with both nuance and boldness), a shepherd (writing to build up the church), and a lover (passionately sharing about the exuberance of God’s love).
Therefore we trust what he has laid out in this book because he is qualified to parse Scripture and he’s doing it from a place of pastoral care and love.
I found this book to be very encouraging, giving me lots of truth to meditate on.
Right out of the gate he takes on a controversial issue— the progressive concept that ‘love is love’— but I think this is a great place to start because we need definitions of what we’re talking about, especially when it comes to love
That is the world’s perspective of love. But Sam is not willing to acquiesce to such a concept:
He defines love:
Once we have that established, we use this framework to see how God’s love for us is, in the same way, giving us what we need to flourish now and in eternity. His love for us and our joy actually all converge to bring him glory.
So what do we learn about his love?
In Chapter 2 Storms walks us through Psalms to better understand the word ‘steadfast’ and that God’s love is enduring forever.
In the following chapters he looks at passages like Jesus washing the disciples feet, Jesus looking at Peter when he has denied him, and Jesus healing the leper to see how he is sovereign and serving and how even when we are his enemies he draws near to us and looks on us with compassion; no one is excluded from his love.
Storms draws on Ephesians 3 to explain how we actually need God to help us experience his love:
“Paul is praying that we would be strengthened… [because of] our inability to wholeheartedly believe in, feel, and rejoice in the love that God has for us in Jesus… To think that God loves me so deeply and intensely and sacrificially that he works in me by his Spirit to make it possible for God himself to fill me up with God himself— what words can adequately account for this?”
I think the chapter where he goes through John 3:16 may be my favorite chapter of the book. It’s a well-known verse but we don’t totally grasp the depth of what that verse means for sinners. He explains each part of the verse and has a lot of really good truth in this short chapter.
“I can assure you that neither [I nor my wife] said anything along the lines of, ‘I’m willing to marry a person who utterly despises me, who is worse than indifferent toward me. I’m hoping for someone who hates me, treats me with contempt and disdain, and who wants nothing whatsoever to do with me.’ But God did. When the Father sought a bride for his Son, he set his affection and love on a people who were his enemies.”
It was poignant here too that he also looks back to the bronze serpent in Numbers 21 and the correlation to sin and the snakes and that even if we’re surrounded by sin, God provides a way to be saved.
Because suffering is a primary example of when we start to doubt God’s love, Storms has a chapter dedicated to it. He even says that one of the main jobs of pastors should be to prepare their people for suffering. Suffering can shake faith or strengthen it, but if we are unprepared for it, we’ll probably waste our suffering.
“Suffering accomplishes nothing good in us if we don’t reflect on how God uses it to build endurance and perseverance in our hearts.”
We won’t always be able to explain why bad things happen, but we know that it’s not because God doesn’t love us.
“Don’t ever think that your hope is only as good as your ability to experience or feel God’s love for you. He most assuredly wants you to feel it, but even when you don’t, you can know his love is real and sure and certain by reminding yourself of the lengths to which he went in making you his child: the death of his own Son on your behalf.”
There are also a couple chapters that answer the question- Will God ever give up on me? Is our salvation secure? He looks at Romans 5 and 8 to answer these questions to assure us that when we are in Christ we are sealed with his promise and nothing can then ever separate us from his love.
He talks a bit about election and God’s sovereign and loving choice to save us. He pulled a lot in from his book that I also recently read called Chosen for Life so if that topic interests you I would recommend that for a more in-depth look at those doctrines.
I also liked his conclusion. He ends by a short meditation on 2 Thessalonians 3:5 which says,
“May the Lord direct our hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ”
When we are struggling to feel or know God’s love, it is right to pray for it. The Lord can direct our hearts to his love and to comprehend the steadfastness of it. And part of how we do that, as stated earlier, is to dwell on what we know to be true of God. Hope comes from recalling and recalling is worship.
“Worship your way into the experience of God’s love… Often we must sing to joy rather than merely from it.”
I will say, as a fairly unemotional person, sometimes I wonder if I’ve ‘felt’ the love of God very often. I’m still pondering this, but I think it’s less about feeling and more about knowing. At least for me. Experiences are fleeting and feelings go up and down, but the character and love of the Lord is unchanging. That’s comforting to me because even if I don’t know if I’m feeling it properly, I know it to be true.
And this book has encouraged me to ask God about it; maybe he will open up my heart to new ways of knowing him if I just ask!
Recommendation
I would definitely recommend this book! Sam Storms has a pretty clear and loving way of communicating, even hard truths, and reminds us of so many different facets about God’s love.
Truly, we can’t fully comprehend God’s love, but he has given us minds and hearts to know him in some capacity and this book brings to the forefront some very comforting truths— the Lord’s love is steadfast and gives us assurance in salvation and in the blessings that come with abiding in Christ.
Further Reading:
He referenced lots of books in his book, but here are a few mentions that I’ve reviewed:
The Intolerance of Tolerance by D.A. Carson
The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D.A. Carson (I just got this one in the mail to read)
Knowing God by J.I. Packer
Chosen for Life by Sam Storms
I also recently wrote THIS blog post that ties in some of themes that were in this book.
P.S. Also a shoutout for the book cover— really nice and applicable use of the infinity symbol!
**Received a copy from Crossway in exchange for an honest review**
Book Review Blog | Facebook | Pinterest | StoryGraph
Sam Storms begins his book by confessing that he doubts the love of the Lord. He sees the tragedy and evil in the world and he, like I think most of us, wonders where God is and what he is doing. Is his love for us real?
How can he write a book about God’s love?
“the only way I was going to press through this dark season in my soul was to bathe it in the repeated theme of Scripture that ‘the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.’ (Lam 3:22)”
We might never be able to explain all the evil or the tragedies and hardships we encounter, but I love what he says here:
“I cannot, I will not, allow my intellectual shortcomings to account for the problem of evil to blind me to the bright light of the everlasting, unchanging, soul-saving, steadfast love of God.”
And so this book looks at what Scripture tells us about who God is and how he loves us. In Lamentations, right before verse 22 that’s quoted above, Jeremiah says, ‘This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.’
If we have lost our hope, then we need to do a better job of calling to mind the truths that God has revealed to us about himself. And Sam Storms does a wonderful job sharing them with us in this book.
I appreciated Dane Ortlund’s (Gentle and Lowly) foreword in this book because he focuses on who Sam Storms is. Storms covers a few touchy or controversial topics in his book and so when we read this we may say- well who does Sam think he is? why should I listen to him?
Ortlund says that Storms is four things: an exegete (trained well in handling the Scriptures in the original languages), a theologian (thinking deeply and biblically with both nuance and boldness), a shepherd (writing to build up the church), and a lover (passionately sharing about the exuberance of God’s love).
Therefore we trust what he has laid out in this book because he is qualified to parse Scripture and he’s doing it from a place of pastoral care and love.
I found this book to be very encouraging, giving me lots of truth to meditate on.
Right out of the gate he takes on a controversial issue— the progressive concept that ‘love is love’— but I think this is a great place to start because we need definitions of what we’re talking about, especially when it comes to love
“So what do people mean when they say that ‘love is love’? Unless I’m mistaken, I think they mean that love is always accepting, never critical, entirely inclusive, and altogether affirming of the moral legitimacy of anything a person believes and however they choose to behave. To push back and argue that certain beliefs are false is not loving. It is hateful. To suggest that a particular lifestyle is morally perverse is not loving. It is bigoted. To employ any language that does not affirm the truth or legitimacy of something another person believes or does is an expression of intolerance and will probably subject you to being cancelled in some way.”
That is the world’s perspective of love. But Sam is not willing to acquiesce to such a concept:
“Let me say it clearly: to tell someone who is living in unrepentant homosexuality that his or her behavior is dishonorable, morally wrong, and puts their soul in jeopardy of eternal damnation is the most loving thing you could possibly say to them. I know that this runs counter to our society’s perspective today, but I don’t regard the world or its opinions as authoritative. Only God’s written word is authoritative.”
“You have a choice to make, and you have only two options: either you acknowledge and submit to the authoritative statements of the Bible or you acknowledge and submit to the passions, feelings, and opinions of your own soul. Either God defines your identity in his word or you define it according to your good pleasure.”
He defines love:
“My definition, the Bible’s definition, is that “love” is acting and speaking in such a way that the object of one’s affection is blessed in this life and in the age to come… To truly love a person you must say and do all that you can to direct them to beliefs and behaviors that align with their eternal destiny in the presence of God in the new heaven and new earth. That is love.”
Once we have that established, we use this framework to see how God’s love for us is, in the same way, giving us what we need to flourish now and in eternity. His love for us and our joy actually all converge to bring him glory.
So what do we learn about his love?
In Chapter 2 Storms walks us through Psalms to better understand the word ‘steadfast’ and that God’s love is enduring forever.
In the following chapters he looks at passages like Jesus washing the disciples feet, Jesus looking at Peter when he has denied him, and Jesus healing the leper to see how he is sovereign and serving and how even when we are his enemies he draws near to us and looks on us with compassion; no one is excluded from his love.
Storms draws on Ephesians 3 to explain how we actually need God to help us experience his love:
“Paul is praying that we would be strengthened… [because of] our inability to wholeheartedly believe in, feel, and rejoice in the love that God has for us in Jesus… To think that God loves me so deeply and intensely and sacrificially that he works in me by his Spirit to make it possible for God himself to fill me up with God himself— what words can adequately account for this?”
I think the chapter where he goes through John 3:16 may be my favorite chapter of the book. It’s a well-known verse but we don’t totally grasp the depth of what that verse means for sinners. He explains each part of the verse and has a lot of really good truth in this short chapter.
“I can assure you that neither [I nor my wife] said anything along the lines of, ‘I’m willing to marry a person who utterly despises me, who is worse than indifferent toward me. I’m hoping for someone who hates me, treats me with contempt and disdain, and who wants nothing whatsoever to do with me.’ But God did. When the Father sought a bride for his Son, he set his affection and love on a people who were his enemies.”
It was poignant here too that he also looks back to the bronze serpent in Numbers 21 and the correlation to sin and the snakes and that even if we’re surrounded by sin, God provides a way to be saved.
Because suffering is a primary example of when we start to doubt God’s love, Storms has a chapter dedicated to it. He even says that one of the main jobs of pastors should be to prepare their people for suffering. Suffering can shake faith or strengthen it, but if we are unprepared for it, we’ll probably waste our suffering.
“Suffering accomplishes nothing good in us if we don’t reflect on how God uses it to build endurance and perseverance in our hearts.”
We won’t always be able to explain why bad things happen, but we know that it’s not because God doesn’t love us.
“Don’t ever think that your hope is only as good as your ability to experience or feel God’s love for you. He most assuredly wants you to feel it, but even when you don’t, you can know his love is real and sure and certain by reminding yourself of the lengths to which he went in making you his child: the death of his own Son on your behalf.”
There are also a couple chapters that answer the question- Will God ever give up on me? Is our salvation secure? He looks at Romans 5 and 8 to answer these questions to assure us that when we are in Christ we are sealed with his promise and nothing can then ever separate us from his love.
He talks a bit about election and God’s sovereign and loving choice to save us. He pulled a lot in from his book that I also recently read called Chosen for Life so if that topic interests you I would recommend that for a more in-depth look at those doctrines.
I also liked his conclusion. He ends by a short meditation on 2 Thessalonians 3:5 which says,
“May the Lord direct our hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ”
When we are struggling to feel or know God’s love, it is right to pray for it. The Lord can direct our hearts to his love and to comprehend the steadfastness of it. And part of how we do that, as stated earlier, is to dwell on what we know to be true of God. Hope comes from recalling and recalling is worship.
“Worship your way into the experience of God’s love… Often we must sing to joy rather than merely from it.”
I will say, as a fairly unemotional person, sometimes I wonder if I’ve ‘felt’ the love of God very often. I’m still pondering this, but I think it’s less about feeling and more about knowing. At least for me. Experiences are fleeting and feelings go up and down, but the character and love of the Lord is unchanging. That’s comforting to me because even if I don’t know if I’m feeling it properly, I know it to be true.
And this book has encouraged me to ask God about it; maybe he will open up my heart to new ways of knowing him if I just ask!
Recommendation
I would definitely recommend this book! Sam Storms has a pretty clear and loving way of communicating, even hard truths, and reminds us of so many different facets about God’s love.
Truly, we can’t fully comprehend God’s love, but he has given us minds and hearts to know him in some capacity and this book brings to the forefront some very comforting truths— the Lord’s love is steadfast and gives us assurance in salvation and in the blessings that come with abiding in Christ.
Further Reading:
He referenced lots of books in his book, but here are a few mentions that I’ve reviewed:
The Intolerance of Tolerance by D.A. Carson
The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D.A. Carson (I just got this one in the mail to read)
Knowing God by J.I. Packer
Chosen for Life by Sam Storms
I also recently wrote THIS blog post that ties in some of themes that were in this book.
P.S. Also a shoutout for the book cover— really nice and applicable use of the infinity symbol!
**Received a copy from Crossway in exchange for an honest review**
Book Review Blog | Facebook | Pinterest | StoryGraph
March 17, 2025
Every person needs to love and be loved. Yet, most people struggle with both. The Steadfast Love of the Lord: Experiencing the Life-Changing Power of God’s Unchanging Affection by Sam Storms is a powerful book that explores God’s commitment to his people.
Storms carefully unpacks the meaning of God’s love in a way that draws the attention of readers and awakens them to the reality of this important attribute. The book is personal and practical. But even more, the book is biblical. Storms relentlessly pursues the biblical text and invites readers to embrace God’s revelation and receive his love.
“God’s love for you,” writes Storms, “is so infinitely intense and steadfast that he quite literally sings for joy. His affection is so deep that mere words prove paltry and inadequate. His devotion is so profoundly intimate that he bursts forth in sacred song.”
It is impossible to read The Steadfast Love of God without being gripped by this great reality and captivated by the God who rejoices over his people!
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
Storms carefully unpacks the meaning of God’s love in a way that draws the attention of readers and awakens them to the reality of this important attribute. The book is personal and practical. But even more, the book is biblical. Storms relentlessly pursues the biblical text and invites readers to embrace God’s revelation and receive his love.
“God’s love for you,” writes Storms, “is so infinitely intense and steadfast that he quite literally sings for joy. His affection is so deep that mere words prove paltry and inadequate. His devotion is so profoundly intimate that he bursts forth in sacred song.”
It is impossible to read The Steadfast Love of God without being gripped by this great reality and captivated by the God who rejoices over his people!
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
May 7, 2025
This book felt like a five-star that had been dropped at the last minute, and released in reverse order. There is so much good content—as one would expect from Storms—but it feels like the momentum is lost the further into the book I trod. Had this book started at the end, and then traced back to Storm’s original motives behind writing, I feel this would have been far more effective, but in this present form, the beginning promised an explosion that turns out to be a simmering campfire—good in its own right, but not in the way one might expect.
With that said, Storms is scripturally sound, orthodox, and yet very gracious to those with whom he disagrees. This is perhaps the greatest strength of Storm’s writing in general, and certainly is the case here.
With that said, Storms is scripturally sound, orthodox, and yet very gracious to those with whom he disagrees. This is perhaps the greatest strength of Storm’s writing in general, and certainly is the case here.
February 4, 2026
Dane Ortlund notes in the foreword that Sam Storms is a rare blend of exegete, theologian, and pastor, and the book proves him right. Storms refuses to let the love of God remain a safe idea on the shelf. Something that is true, orthodox, yet untouched. Yes, God’s steadfast love is an objective, biblical, and historical reality, but Storms insists that it must also be known, felt, and lived. The result is a book that grounds the reader in the vast, vast love of God as both a truth to be believed and a reality to live in.
A wonderful book.
A wonderful book.
July 7, 2025
Zephaniah 3:17
The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
January 1, 2026
I frequently turn back to books that expand on the word because it brings me back to center. I picked this up because I enjoy Dane Ortlund and figured if he was giving the foreword it would be great. The book was strong in scripture. Not earth shattering or anything new, but reinforcing in nature.
October 8, 2025
Yea real good. You can't top a good unpacking of the logical connections between verses in Romans 8. And if you like that, you'll like this book.
September 9, 2025
First sentence: It only makes sense that before we dive into an exploration of the steadfast love of God that we define love itself. You may think that's a no-brainer, but the distortions of love in our world today have made this a somewhat arduous task.
Sam Storms' newest book is about the steadfast love of the LORD. In many cases an example of what you see is what you get. The love of God is a subject that is simple and complex; one could drink of its richness, of its depth for decades upon decades and still find more, more, more. It's a subject worthy of our attention because HIS LOVE is so often unlike our own love. Oh, we try (and try and try and try) to love others, to love as He loves. But GOD's love is so amazingly amazing and extraordinary that it will always be a thing of wonder and awe.
Here Storms shares in thirteen chapters insights and lessons about the love of God.
1. Love is Love. Or is it?
2. How Long Will God's Love Last?
3. Sovereign Lord on Bended Knee
4. The Look of Steadfast Love
5. The Touch of Steadfast Love
6. Strengthened by the Spirit to Enjoy God's Love
7. Love in the Most Famous Verse in the Bible
8. When God Loves the Unlovely
9. Overwhelmed by the Floodwaters of God's Love
10. The "Much More" Love of God
11. The Incalculable, Insurmountable, Sin-Killing, Soul-Preserving Love of God
12. Saved by the Love of a Sovereign God
13. The Father's Loving Passion for His People
Conclusion: May the Lord Direct Your Heart Into the Love of God
Quotes:
To truly love a person you must say and do all that you can to direct them to beliefs and behaviors that align with their eternal destiny in the presence of God in the new heaven and new earth. That is love.
At no time during his earthly life, at no time during your earthly life, does Jesus cease to be sovereign.
The only sin that can be defeated is a sin that has been forgiven. ~ John Piper
Being right with God must precede doing right for God.
Sam Storms' newest book is about the steadfast love of the LORD. In many cases an example of what you see is what you get. The love of God is a subject that is simple and complex; one could drink of its richness, of its depth for decades upon decades and still find more, more, more. It's a subject worthy of our attention because HIS LOVE is so often unlike our own love. Oh, we try (and try and try and try) to love others, to love as He loves. But GOD's love is so amazingly amazing and extraordinary that it will always be a thing of wonder and awe.
Here Storms shares in thirteen chapters insights and lessons about the love of God.
1. Love is Love. Or is it?
2. How Long Will God's Love Last?
3. Sovereign Lord on Bended Knee
4. The Look of Steadfast Love
5. The Touch of Steadfast Love
6. Strengthened by the Spirit to Enjoy God's Love
7. Love in the Most Famous Verse in the Bible
8. When God Loves the Unlovely
9. Overwhelmed by the Floodwaters of God's Love
10. The "Much More" Love of God
11. The Incalculable, Insurmountable, Sin-Killing, Soul-Preserving Love of God
12. Saved by the Love of a Sovereign God
13. The Father's Loving Passion for His People
Conclusion: May the Lord Direct Your Heart Into the Love of God
Quotes:
To truly love a person you must say and do all that you can to direct them to beliefs and behaviors that align with their eternal destiny in the presence of God in the new heaven and new earth. That is love.
At no time during his earthly life, at no time during your earthly life, does Jesus cease to be sovereign.
The only sin that can be defeated is a sin that has been forgiven. ~ John Piper
Being right with God must precede doing right for God.
March 1, 2025
The title of this book is very fitting as Sam Storms writes about Lamentations 3:22.
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end."
Storms writes all about God's steadfast love and what it is. I love that he uses a lot of examples throughout Scripture to show his readers what God's love for his people is. This book really reminded me of Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund!
Storms starts out by defining what love is and isn't by addressing the problems in our culture's definition. Afterwards, he goes into what it means by God's love being steadfast and the implications of this for God's people. This book is full of explanations and examples. It is sometimes hard to understand how much God loves us as believers, but when we get a taste of it.. it is hard not to praise Him for his love. It changes you when you understand a glimpse of His love for you as a believer.
My only note on this book is that he mentions "Christian Hedonism". While I understand and agree with the sentiment behind this to an extent, I disagree with using this phase "hedonism" and have some reservations about this. He quotes John Piper a lot as well. While I think this book is great otherwise, Gentle and Lowly is still my favorite on this subject! Both books are ones I definitely recommend.
I received this book from the publisher for my honest thoughts.
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end."
Storms writes all about God's steadfast love and what it is. I love that he uses a lot of examples throughout Scripture to show his readers what God's love for his people is. This book really reminded me of Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund!
Storms starts out by defining what love is and isn't by addressing the problems in our culture's definition. Afterwards, he goes into what it means by God's love being steadfast and the implications of this for God's people. This book is full of explanations and examples. It is sometimes hard to understand how much God loves us as believers, but when we get a taste of it.. it is hard not to praise Him for his love. It changes you when you understand a glimpse of His love for you as a believer.
My only note on this book is that he mentions "Christian Hedonism". While I understand and agree with the sentiment behind this to an extent, I disagree with using this phase "hedonism" and have some reservations about this. He quotes John Piper a lot as well. While I think this book is great otherwise, Gentle and Lowly is still my favorite on this subject! Both books are ones I definitely recommend.
I received this book from the publisher for my honest thoughts.
February 26, 2025
A well-written book--and what a glorious topic! Storms "plumbs the depths," as they say, of Scripture to highlight and rejoice in the love of God. This would be an excellent book for any and every believer to read.
The chapters are more or less independent of each other, so there is not much of a broader argument than "see what this chapter/text of Scripture says about the love of God." The chapters that focus on suffering and difficulty are especially well done.
Storms does go off track a bit when he talks about "passions" in relation to God. He doesn't seem to understand the classic argument for why God does not have passions; he seems to equate them with "emotions," which is not at all what the term means. The discussion could have been removed without losing anything from the book (and probably should have been, editor).
But nevertheless, another good effort from a pastor whose heart is ablaze with God's love.
The chapters are more or less independent of each other, so there is not much of a broader argument than "see what this chapter/text of Scripture says about the love of God." The chapters that focus on suffering and difficulty are especially well done.
Storms does go off track a bit when he talks about "passions" in relation to God. He doesn't seem to understand the classic argument for why God does not have passions; he seems to equate them with "emotions," which is not at all what the term means. The discussion could have been removed without losing anything from the book (and probably should have been, editor).
But nevertheless, another good effort from a pastor whose heart is ablaze with God's love.
March 11, 2025
This was a tough one for me - everything about it said I should love it - Sam Storms (appreciate his ministry and writing), endorsement by Gavin Ortlund, and Foreward by Dane Ortlund, and the topic: God’s steadfast love..I never get tired of seeing, hearing, studying, and knowing it in God’s Word. But, for me this book, just didn’t sing.
I felt like I was being told a lot and not shown. I also didn’t prefer Storms’ writing style at points - too many asides to the reader or assuming the question I was asking. Plus, many of the chapters are things he’s written previously (other chapters in other books), even though they are adapted. Still, good book, but I would recommend Gentle & Lowly for really capturing the essence/heart of what Storms was attempting here.
I felt like I was being told a lot and not shown. I also didn’t prefer Storms’ writing style at points - too many asides to the reader or assuming the question I was asking. Plus, many of the chapters are things he’s written previously (other chapters in other books), even though they are adapted. Still, good book, but I would recommend Gentle & Lowly for really capturing the essence/heart of what Storms was attempting here.
December 27, 2025
This book focuses on the love of God, looking at it through various angles and reflecting on the theme. The author's sincerity comes through clearly, especially as he writes about his own struggles and doubt, which led him to do a deep dive into the topic. However, I found this book fairly dry and repetitive, and thought it could have been much shorter and more focused.
I received a free copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine, and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
I received a free copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine, and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
May 12, 2025
This was a great book on the steadfast love of the Lord. If you have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and still feel a sense of rejection or distance, you need to meditate on this book deeply. It points to some truths of Scripture that many of us struggle to believe. Namely, does our Heavenly Father truly delight in us and make us the object of his affection.
June 20, 2025
Was pretty distracted while reading this book so I think I might’ve gotten more out of it in another season. Still really enjoyed this and the moments I was engaged were really insightful. I appreciated reading a book solely on this topic and for the pressing in on a somewhat generalized attribute of God. I’d recommend this to anyone.
October 8, 2025
This book really helped me understand God's love for me and how powerful it is. He created this world not out of anything else but love and glory. We glorify Him best by loving Him, would recommend to everyone
May 21, 2025
Sooooooooooooooo good! Definitely a book I will have to read again! Thank you for being a faithful Servant, Sam Storms.
August 25, 2025
Quite repetitive, and I think I didn’t always follow the flow of logic. Nonetheless some great stuff in here
August 30, 2025
Not exactly sure who his audience is but I don’t think it was me. The intro set a different tone than what I expected from this book.
November 27, 2025
Easily one of my top 5 books this year and maybe one of the most encouraging books I’ve ever read.
December 4, 2025
Not what I was hoping for and I think that may warp my opinion a bit. It read like a series of transcribed sermons, which is fine, but I am used to far more theological meat from Storm's books. This one was more pastoral. There are a few chapters where I have massive amounts of underlined passages and others that looked like I skipped over them.
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