Grow With Pastor Joe

Devotions for the Head, the Heart, and the Home

1 John 4:11

Read: 1 John is written to give us the assurances of our salvation. Throughout this letter the word “love” is used 26 times. I wonder if love is important in the Christian life? Of course it is! Love is the basis of Christian living from the moment of our new birth to the day we get a new body. 1 John 4:11 reminds us that because we are loved by God in Christ and assured of that love by the indwelling Holy Spirit we must love one another. This verse and passage shows us that love is the basis of our belief. The moment that we believe in saving faith in the finished work of Christ (which is the greatest demonstration of love) we experience the love of God in our life. Salvation is belief in the fact that God loved you enough to save you through the death of His Son on your behalf so that now you are free to love Him and others. Love is also the basis of our belonging. The moment we responded in faith to the love of God in Christ we believed the Gospel and received a new belonging. We now belong to the God of love. We are now His “beloved” as 1 John 4:11 addresses believers. We belong to God and one another because of love. Love unites us in eternal belonging to Christ and His Church. Love is also the basis of our behavior. We are responsible to love God and love others. We are to love one another because Christ loved us. Not only that, but we are to love as He loved us as the previous verses describe. Love that is on the inside should show up on the outside or else there is no real love on the inside. Love that is experienced by the Christian is to be expressed by the Christian. Love is the basis of the Christian life but I wonder, does it show up in our behavior? Are we living a life of love? May we enjoy the love of God in our life and then express that same love to one another.

Reflect: Read 1 John 4. Write or discuss the ways that God loves us and the ways that love should be seen in the life of the believer.

Rest: Rest your head, heart and home in the love of God that we have experienced in Christ. God loves you and you can’t do anything about it.

Respond: Begin and end each day by praying for a loving heart that grows to love God more throughout the day and extends love to others so that the love of God would be seen in your life.