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T H E M E : We’re Compelled to Love God’s Family

B E C A U S E G O D L O V E S U S

“Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:11 (NIV)

Life is about learning to love.

The purpose of your time on earth is not primarily about acquiring possessions, attaining status, achieving success, or even experiencing happiness. Those are secondary issues. Life is all about love and developing relationships—with God, and with other people. You may succeed in many areas, but if you fail to learn how to love God and love others, you’ll have missed the reason God created you and placed you on this planet. Learning to love is life’s most important lesson. Jesus called it the “greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:38, NIV). Nothing else comes close in importance.

Why? Because God is love, and God wants you to become more like him. God loves you deeply and unconditionally. Now he wants you to learn to love him back, and to love others, especially believers in God’s family. 

Here’s the problem: Love is unnatural for us. It is human nature to think of ourselves first. We naturally do what is in our own best interest, often without any regard for how it affects others. Hopefully, as we grow we become more giving and less selfish; but we’ve all known people who never grew up and never considered anything but their own wishes, desires, and cravings. Self-centeredness is the root of practically every problem—both personally and globally.

Real love is placing the needs of others before your own. It is making your problem, my problem. It is giving to another without any guarantee of getting anything back. It is giving others what they need, not what they deserve. 

Although love can create intense feelings, love is not a feeling. It is a choice, an action, a way of behaving, a commitment. Love is sacrificing for others. Much of the world has no clue as to what real love is all about. Songs that say “I need you, I want you, I must have you” are not love songs, but lust songs. Real love focuses on how I can serve you, not how you can serve me. It’s the opposite of our selfish tendencies.

That’s why we must learn to love. It isn’t easy. Real love takes knowledge, God’s grace, and lots of practice. We must retrain ourselves to think and act in loving ways. During 40 Days of Community we’re going to practice loving each other—in 40 different ways. These ways are called the “one anothers” of the Bible. They are practical instructions for learning to love in real-life situations.

Like a diamond, love is multi-faceted. Each of these daily readings will help you understand and practice a different aspect of love. Take the time each day to seriously think about what you’ve read. Learning genuine love is not easy, but it will bless your life beyond imagination here on earth, and prepare you for eternity. Of course, you can’t learn to love by yourself. You must develop relationships with many different kinds of people in order to practice loving others. The Bible calls this being in “community”, which is another word for fellowship. 

To practice the “one another” commands that God has given us, it is absolutely essential that

you find a church family and get involved in some kind of weekly small group study. An effective small group is more than just a Bible study, although that is a major component. It also allows time for interacting, sharing, questioning, and praying for each other. Community is the context where we learn to love.

If all you do is read these daily devotionals, you’ll only get a fraction of the potential benefits. But if you meet weekly in a small group setting, with six or eight other people, you’ll have a practice lab where you can apply what you learn. 

Now here’s today’s verse: “Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11, NIV). This is the starting point for building real community: realize how much God loves us. He doesn’t just love you; he loves everyone else just as much, and he wants his children to love each other.

There are three foundations for living a life of love:

• God’s love for us gives us the reason to love others.

• God’s love in us gives us the ability to love others.

• God’s love through us gives us the way to love others.

P O I N T T O P O N D E R :

Life is about learning to love.

V E R S E T O R E M E M B E R :

“We love because God first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 (TEV)

Q U E S T I O N T O C O N S I D E R :

How comfortable are you with being in a 40 Days of Community small group?