Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Love Personified

“For it is Christ’s love that fuels our passion and motivates us, because we are absolutely convinced that he has given his life for all of us. This means all died with him, so that those who live should no longer live self-absorbed lives but lives that are poured out for him—the one who died for us and now lives again.” – 2 Corinthians 5:14-15.   

There is nothing on this earth that is greater, and more powerful as a motivating factor than love. The thing that will get through to me when nothing else will, is the awareness that God loves me:  He is for me, He stands beside me. He delights in me.

Jesus dying on the cross is the most vivid display of God’s love, and it’s also the screenshot into the heart of God who doesn’t just show love but is love. The cross is the demonstration of God’s love, and it’s the tip of the iceberg. John is getting at this in 1 John 4:16 when he says: “God is love.”  And that doesn’t mean that love defines God, but that God defines love. God is the one who gives love its meaning because that is who He is. God has always been love and will always be love.   

God’s love is unconditional, and it’s not based on feelings or emotions. He doesn’t love us because we’re lovable or because we make Him feel good; He loves us because He is love. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son to restore that relationship.

Psalm 136 beautifully describes the love of God as unfailing. The psalmist recalls how in His sovereignty, God upholds His creation and people in love. And that love is not reserved for the good people. Jesus tells us that God’s love encompasses the world. That’s everyone. That’s chosen people and not-chosen people. That’s devout careful followers of Jesus, and flagrant willful sinners. God’s love is not some pie-in-the-sky ideal. It’s a moving force that continues to change lives all over the world. 

Jesus set for us the example to love and gives us the command to follow in His example (John 13:34-35; 1 John 3:16-20). When Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, He took the role of a servant and placed the needs of others above His own dignity. He instructed His followers to do the same. He tells us to love our neighbors as well as our enemies. It is through our love that the world will know that we belong to Christ.

In the middle of the chaos we are facing with the Coronavirus, we can be still enough to recognize the love that God has for each of us. And in these unpredictable circumstances and all other times, we need to trust in God’s unfailing and unconditional love.  May we live confidently today, knowing that we are His children who are loved and were chosen with a plan and purpose in mind.   

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are some words that describe God’s love?
  2. Have you seen His love in action in your life? In what ways?

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