Loved to Love
Scripture
“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.”
1 John 4:7–11 (NLT)
Have you ever stopped to think about where love actually comes from? John doesn’t leave us guessing. He says love comes from God Himself. Then he goes even further, saying that God is love. It’s not just what He does; it’s who He is. Love is the very essence of His nature, flowing from His heart into all that He creates and redeems.
“Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger or higher or wider; nothing is more pleasant, nothing fuller, and nothing better in heaven or on earth, for love is born of God and cannot rest except in God, Who is above all created things.”¹
— Thomas à Kempis
When we belong to Him, that same love begins to live in us. Through the Holy Spirit, God’s love shapes our hearts, softens our rough edges, and teaches us how to see others the way He does. The presence of God within us should always lead to love around us. It is the clearest evidence that we truly know Him.
We do not have to wonder what this love looks like either. God showed us in the most powerful way possible by sending His Son to bear our sins on the cross. That is not abstract love; that is real, sacrificial, redeeming love. He paid an unthinkable price so that we could live free and forgiven. Why? Because that is who He is. His very nature compels Him to rescue, restore, and bring us home.
Since God has loved us this deeply, John says we surely ought to love one another. When His love fills your heart, it will begin to overflow into your home, your friendships, your church, and even toward those who are hardest to love. Remember today that you are deeply loved by God. Let that truth sink in until it changes how you see yourself and how you treat others. You have been loved to love, so go and be a reflection of His heart in the world.
Reflection
- How have you personally experienced the love of God in your life?
- Is there someone God is prompting you to love with more grace or patience?
- How can you let God’s love overflow through you today in practical ways?
Prayer
Ask God to fill your heart with His love until it overflows. Pray that your words, actions, and presence would reflect His heart to everyone you meet, and that others would sense His love through you.
Footnote
¹ Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, bk. 3, chap. 5.