We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 1 John 4:19-20
He loved us first
We have seen over and over through this Lent series how God has so richly loved us! He has lavished His love on us.
God sent His Son to suffer, be humiliated, be tortured, and die an excruciating death because He loved us so much.
We should love others
As a response to the overwhelming love of God, we should not only love Him back, but also love others that He brings into our lives.
Give love
Our focus today is giving, and one of the best things we can give is our love. When we love others, we are living, breathing demonstrations of the character of God. He loved us first, now we have the ability to love others.
Let go of hate
If you are holding something against someone (even if it is deserved), it is costing you dearly. In 1 John 4, it tells us that if we don’t love the people we can see, we can’t possibly love the God we can’t see.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 1 John 4:19-20
Yikes! Today is the day to get rid of the hate in our hearts and love others. We love others not because they deserve it, but because God loved us first and best.
Action Step:
Our focus today is GIVING TO OTHERS!
Giving to Others: Offering our money, time, or talents to help those in need. Finding some way to enrich the lives of others and think of other people rather than yourself.
Let’s give love to others this week leading up to Easter – find ways to show the people in our lives that we care for them and value them. He loved us, let’s love others.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank You so much for first loving us. Help us to see how to best love others in our lives. Bring to our minds ways to show that we care today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
