Question from a reader:

How do we know that God loves people more than animals? Why shouldn’t His love be the same for all His creatures?

Answer from Randy Alcorn:

Humans, the pinnacle of God’s creation story, are said to be created in His image (Genesis 2:26), but that is never said of animals.

Being created in God's “image” distinguishes us from land animals who are also created from “dust” and with the breath of life, as we are. Animals are created “according to their kinds” (Genesis 1:24), and therefore, in their own image, not God’s. This means humans have a special capacity for an intimate relationship with God that animals do not (though Scripture indicates they can know God's ways and praise Him in their own way).

While God certainly does not value animals as much as He does people of every tribe, nation and language, not only the creation account but also the flood account proves God does value animals of every species, genus, and family.

God made animals because they pleased Him. God loved them from eternity past when they existed only in His mind. He loved them long before the first human did. It’s a simple fact that just as God loves people more than we do, He loves animals more than we do, and more than we ever will.

Tom Waldron writes,

God’s love is infinite because God is infinite, and it’s eternal because God is eternal. He still loves our pets even more than we do, for He never changes. For sure, He loves man in a way that is far and away above the love He has for anything else. But that’s not to diminish the fact (which is equally true) that, at the same time, the love He has for everything else is just as real, just as pure and perfect, and just as immutable. He’s always been a God of love and He always will be.