DAILY DEVOTIONAL
Fruit of the Spirit: Love
I Want to Know What Love Is
By Danny Saavedra
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“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”—1 John 4:7–12 (NIV)
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Years ago, the band Foreigner released a song with lyrics that say, “I want to know what love is; I want you to show me. I want to feel what love is; I know you can show me.” Hidden beneath that unmistakable 80s pop rock sound, this song expresses a real, universal need humanity faces every day . . . the need to know and feel what love is.
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Unfortunately, many people never do. Many waste so much time searching for love in all the wrong places. But the apostle John offers us good news . . . our search for the meaning and feeling of love is available to all of us because “GOD IS LOVE” (1 John 4:8 NIV, emphasis added) and because “THIS IS LOVE: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10 NIV, emphasis added).
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If you want to know what love is, look to the cross. The love of God is demonstrated fully on the cross and made available to all because of the cross. Jesus is the answer to what love is, and He shows us what it looks like. It’s sacrificial, committed, and selfless—a beautiful servanthood toward another.
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Likewise, as He shows us what love is, He commands us to “love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12 NIV), “for love comes from God” (1 John 4:7 NIV). He expects us to love others consistently, selflessly, and sacrificially (John 15:13). He gave the command and then He showed us how to do it!
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And when we show love for one another, which is the result of Christ in us and of our following His example, not only do we prove that He lives in us and that we’re His disciples (John 13:35), but 1 John also says that the love of God will be made complete (or “perfected”) in us!
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The word for “perfected” in the Greek describes a goal that’s reached, something that’s fully accomplished and finished to perfection. It’s complete and whole in every aspect. Like when you finish a puzzle or unlock all the achievements and finish all the side quests in a video game. For the believer, this means embodying true, genuine, sacrificial, agape love for one another.
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All throughout this letter, John hammers this simple truth home with the subtlety of a bull in a China shop. He explains in detail how Christ loves us, and then he tells us to love others just like Jesus loves us. But here’s the thing: We’ll never be able to live in the fullness of all that God has for us if we don’t genuinely love others. We’ll be cutting ourselves off and limiting our capacity to experience all of His promises and the complete abundance of life Christ came to give us.
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So, love one another! I believe John has given us a great litmus test for our maturity of faith, our obedience, and the condition of our heart. If we don’t do this, we’ll never finish the puzzle. Even though He has given us His love completely, if we don’t love others as He loves us, the love He poured out cannot be complete in us. So, how are you loving?
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Pause: How are you showing the love of Jesus to the people around you today?
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Practice: Pray for the love of Jesus to sweep over you and pour out unto others so His love may be complete in you.
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Pray: Father, thank You for not only loving me so fully, completely, and deeply that You sent Your Son to save me, but also for showing me what love is and using me to show others how much You love them. I pray that each day I would grow in my love for You and that through that love, I would grow in my love for others. Amen.
Wednesday, March 5
Thursday, March 6
First Love
By Danny Saavedra
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“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment:In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us.”—1 John 4:19 (NIV)
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All through 1 John, a striking pattern emerges. Although the apostle has a lot to say about the way we live the Christian life and the way we interact with and treat one another, in every area of Christian living he addresses, John first provides us the example of God Himself and how He demonstrates this for us. This is especially true as it pertains to love!
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There is no clearer example of this than 1 John 4:19. Notice the vertical axis of love around which everything rotates: “We love (God) because he first loved us.” That’s worthy of being highlighted, circled, underlined, and anything else someone can do to mark its importance.
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Seriously, friends . . . is there any truth in all the Bible more important than this one? God loved us first! If that isn’t so, then we should shudder to think of the implications. If it were left to us to initiate the sacred bond of love with God . . . we wouldn’t. If not for the love of God that “has been poured out into our hearts” (Romans 5:5 NIV), that has been “lavished on us, that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1 NIV) and that “compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14 NIV), we would never choose to love Him nor would we even know what love is (1 John 3:16).
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You see, our sinful nature is so corrupted, so twisted and selfish, that we wouldn’t be able to trust in God, receive the love of God, or even love God. Why not? Because “nothing good lives in [us], that is, in [our] flesh” (Romans 7:18 HCSB).
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Knowing this, He initiated! God did what we couldn’t: He loved us with a perfect love that transforms us from within and enables us to respond to Him in love. He loves us, draws us in by His love, and births love in us. That’s our vertical orientation with God; the example provided by God Himself.
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Now watch as John moves to the horizontal, to how we then apply the work of God in us to others: “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. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:20–21 ESV).
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Did you catch the shift? The exchange of love we experience within the context of our relationship with God doesn’t end with us. God’s love is so powerful that it transforms the core of our being and begins to bridge out in the relationships we have with other people. And this isn’t negotiable—it’s both an assumed reality and a natural outpouring!
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I can’t write it without being reminded of how short I fall in loving others, but the Christian life is progressive. Even though we often stumble, we’re on a trajectory of growth in the things of God as He continues His work in us. This area is no exception. As we grow in God’s love for us, we can’t help but grow in our love (which is really His love) for those around us.
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Pause: What pattern does John use in these passages?
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Practice: Make a list of ways you can measure progress in your love for others.
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Pray: Father, thank You for loving me first! Thank You for initiating in love and pouring Your love out for me! Thank You for drawing me to Yourself by Your love. Now, Father, please help me to love others in a way that draws them to You! Amen.
Folding Clothes and Hard Conversations
By Samantha Rodriguez
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“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”—1 John 3:18 (NIV)
For the past three years of my life in college, I’ve learned a lot about loving in action and in truth through my living situations. I still remember the first time I had to move someone’s laundry from the dryer because they still had not picked it up after a few hours. I started to fold it all when she came in and quickly exclaimed, “Girl! You don’t have to fold my clothes! You’re too nice! Thank you so much, wow!” I was so surprised at her reaction, but I didn’t realize why she was so surprised until a neighbor of mine did the same for my clothes! This simple act of folding someone’s laundry is a display of Christ’s simple and sweet love in action.
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Apart from this example of loving in simple action, I’ve also experienced being loved in truth through the past three years of my college life. In my freshman year, I vividly remember the first time my roommate called me out in a particular area of weakness I didn’t recognize I had. She was studying about different personalities in her psychology class, and she called me out on my tendency to live for a manufactured audience in my mind. I felt so embarrassed and my initial reaction was to fight back and prove that she was wrong, but I quickly realized she was right.
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One of my biggest struggles has always been fear of man. I had become aware of that in high school, but having it called out again was not fun. Nonetheless, I really value this moment looking back because I felt seen in knowing that my friend loved me enough to tell me that and knowing that weakness of mine did not drive her away from me. Because she loved me in truth, I was able to recognize I needed to realign my heart with God’s and that other people can love me, flaws and all! This wouldn’t have happened if she didn’t have the courage and boldness to love me in truth!
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I hope these examples provide you with some ideas of what loving others in action and truth could look like. When reading through the whole book of 1 John, it’s easy to see that John was concerned with combating false teaching, establishing evidence and fruit for true belief, and walking in the righteousness that comes from being forgiven in Christ. For this reason, he talks a lot about living in God’s love.
Love is more than just a feeling we idealize and romanticize in society. Love is who our God is. Love is a verb and necessitates action. Love is an expression of honor and value. Love is the result of truly attributing worth to someone. This is why perfect love can only be found in our Creator, and this is also why the Holy Spirit is the one to produce such love in us.
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Though we will never be perfect, we have received God’s perfect love, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, we can help share and impart that love to others. For this to happen though, we must not be afraid to love in our actions and in truth. Today, I pray the Spirit would help us walk in this kind of sacrificial and bold love.
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Pause: When has someone loved you in action or in truth?
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Practice: Think about three ways you can love someone in action or in truth today and commit to doing those three things!
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Pray: God, thank You for being love! You are perfect and Your love is incomprehensible yet tangible and personal. I praise You for that today! I ask that You humble me so I will love others with Your love. I want to love in action and truth despite the difficulties of doing that. Help me to be sacrificial in the way I love those around me today and every day. Amen.
Friday, March 7
A Love That Fulfills
By Pastor Dan Hickling
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“Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”—Romans 13:10 (NKJV)
If you were to form a society from scratch, if you were to create a diverse community comprised of people from every environment imaginable, it would become painfully apparent within minutes that they would also need a system of governance. Without a code of ethics and conduct, human nature will kick in before you can say “sin,” leading each individual member to act in their own best interests, causing the community to crumble like a sandcastle before a tsunami.
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People need to be governed by something in order to survive alongside one another. History shows us this without exception. Regardless of when and where humans have co-existed, there’s always been a system of rules to keep everyone’s heart in check.
We even see this as God formed the descendants of Abraham into the nation of Israel. The Lord miraculously frees them from their taskmasters in Egypt. Then what does He do? Does He tell them, “You’re set free now! Go live in absolute freedom however you want!” Not exactly! The dust of Egypt is barely brushed off of them before God establishes His Law to govern and guide them in their newfound identity and existence. He knew they needed the Law if they were to survive themselves!
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Fast forward about 1,500 years and we see the Lord forming something new. This time, it’s not a sovereign nation but a spiritual community . . . the church, comprised of any and everyone who places their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. And just as God gave Israel His Law to preside over and protect them, He gives the church something that will enable it to not only survive but thrive . . . love!
“Love,” which in the original Greek language (agape) is the quality of love that God exercises towards us. It refers to the unconditional and selfless benevolence towards others. Once someone trusts in Christ, they not only become part of His church, but they’re also given a new spiritual nature by the Holy Spirit—a nature that has access to God and His spiritual resources. And chief among these divine resources is love (Romans 5:5).
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Herein lies the genius of God! The love He provides for His church fulfills every aspect of the Law, and then some. When the love of God is motivating and guiding someone, not only do they not need to worry, but they can expect blessed outcomes. Where the Law restricted the worst from happening, love releases the best to happen. Agape love sets self-interest to the side and seeks out the opportunity to sacrificially serve the needs of others. We can rightly say that there’s never been, nor can there ever be, a greater governor than God’s love. And the quality of relationships in His church should be the best the world has ever witnessed.
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As Christians, we need to be continually reminded of this because we can easily forget the great gift that God has given to us by giving us direct access to His love through His Spirit. Everything we need to thrive as a community of faith is as close as the new nature within us. The only question is whether we choose to draw upon the limitless account of divine love the Holy Spirit desires to bestow on us.
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Knowing this, let’s receive what He freely gives.
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Pause: How is the genius of God displayed in this passage?
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Practice: Think of a time you personally witnessed the power of God’s love as described here. What difference did it make? How can you do the same for someone today?
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Pray: Heavenly Father, thank You for providing Your love as the basis for how Your people are to relate and interact with one another. I ask that You would continually help us to keep this truth and our access to Your love before us, and that we would more and more be known by Your love and work among us. Amen.
Saturday, March 8
Putting On Love
By Pastor Dan Hickling
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“But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.”—Colossians 3:14 (NKJV)
It seems like every time you turn on your phone or log into your inbox someone is asking (and that’s putting it kindly) you to take some
sort of survey for them. So, in keeping with the times, let’s take a brief spiritual survey. This won’t take more than a minute of your time, I promise!
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Question number 1: Do you think compassion and mercy are good qualities to possess?
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Question number 2: Do you think moral purity and integrity of character are good qualities to possess?
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Question number 3: Do you think genuine humility and modesty are good qualities to possess?
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Question number 4: Do you think gentleness and calm are good qualities to possess?
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Question number 5: Do you think patience and perseverance are good qualities to possess?
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Question number 6: Do you think forgiveness is a good quality to possess?
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Hopefully, you answered “yes” to each of these questions. We not only want to be surrounded by people who possess these qualities,
but we also want to be people who have them ourselves. In the above verse, as the apostle Paul writes to the church of Colossae,
he explains how someone can experience each of these characteristics in their lives, because these are the traits Paul is referring to
when he writes, “these things.”
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Now, we already agree that “these things” are all wonderful. But notice how Paul puts something above of them by writing “above all these things.” What’s above, or greater than, mercy, patience, integrity, forgiveness, etc.? The answer is love!
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This is the “love” identified in the original Greek language as agape love. It’s the unconditional and selfless form of love that seeks out
the well-being of others, even at the expense of itself. This is the quality of love that God exercises towards us, the motivating force that
led Him to send His Son to suffer and die for our sin, the power that flipped the script on the devil’s dominion over us, and the factor that
stood between eternal torment and eternal blessing. It’s also the love that God pours into our hearts by the operation of the Holy Spirit,
enabling us to be like Him and relate to others as He relates to us (Romans 5:5).
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Paul doesn’t just put this characteristic above the others, he also describes it as “the bond of perfection.” What does that mean exactly?
If you’ve ever pulled a ligament, you can get an idea of what Paul is driving at here. For our physical bodies are bonded and held together
in place by a complex network of connective ligaments that allows fluidity but provides stability. That’s how God’s love works in relation
to all of these other qualities. It binds them together, holding them in place but also allowing for them to freely flow . . . and it does so
perfectly!
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Do you need to forgive someone? Love empowers you to do that. Do you need to exercise humility? Love gives you what you need to
do that. Do you need to exercise integrity, mercy, patience, or gentleness towards someone? Love makes it all happen! There’s nothing
good that love can’t enable us to accomplish. Above all these things, look to love and allow it to be all sufficient at all times!
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Pause: What is love’s relationship to “all these things?” How should this be reflected in the way we live?
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Practice: Take the survey above and consider which of the qualities you need growth in. What does this passage direct you to do about
that?
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Pray: Lord, I acknowledge my deep need for Your love in my life to enable me to be and behave as You call me to. I ask for a mighty
filling from Your Spirit of Your love and ask that You lead me in how I am to exercise it. Thank You for giving me all I need as I need it
through Your love. Amen.