Listen

Dear friends, if God loved us this way, we also ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us. This is how we know we remain in him and he remains in us, because he has given us a measure of his Spirit.

1 John 4:11-13

Think

Even though loving others isn’t always so easy, it’s still what we ought to do. Why? Our scripture says “because God loves us!” That seems like good logic. And it also seems like a bold claim. How do we know… I mean really know that God loves us?

The Bible teaches us that Jesus’ whole mission on earth was to prove that God loved us in a new way; that our older understandings weren’t the whole picture. People learned to trust Jesus – we learn to trust Jesus – through the love and care of a deep relationship. The Gospels are full of stories of Jesus building people up first, and then those people wanting to know God better.

That’s the challenge for us today. It goes beyond us being fearless as individuals to knowing that we can all be fearless when we love and trust one another.

Daniel Potter

Pray

The greatest gifts you give us, God, are the people in our lives. Help me to love these people like you love me, so that they might know the depth of your love. Amen.

Go

Guide me in your love today, O God.

Awaken my mind,

Strengthen my feet,

Empower my heart,

Enliven my spirit.

Lead me in the way of Jesus!

Amen.