God is _____
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
(1 John 4:16)
God is love.
What does that mean?
First of all, since God is love, it means that he can never not be love.
Just as I can never not be the father of Cooper or the son of Jeff and Dawn, God can never not be love.
By learning that God is love, we learn something about his character. Love is incompatible with evil. While the enemy seeks to lead us astray by pushing us to distrust, dispute, and deny God’s goodness, God remains love.
God’s love is also not merely theoretical—it is on full display.
Read 1 John 3:16a:
“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us…”
God does not simply say he loves us; he shows it!
Paul reminds us that even while we were his enemies, rebelling against him, Christ loved us and laid down his life for us.
This week, I want you to know and believe God’s love for you, and I hope remembering that God is love is one step in that direction.
It is who he is.
That does not make you any less special. We are not selfish hoarders of God’s love, nor should we be upset that he loves the next person you see too.
God loves you and will never stop or give up loving you, no matter how much or how little you love him back.
Like a zebra, God cannot change his stripes.
HE IS LOVE!
Believing God’s Love
Where do you live with a disconnect between knowing and believing?
For me, it is with roller coasters. I know they are safe, but I do not believe it enough to ride the ones that go high and do flips.
What is it for you?
Do you know the job is not right, but you don’t believe anything else will come along?
Do you know money does not solve all problems, but you functionally act as though it is the prized possession of life?
Do you know God is in control, but still feel like everything depends on you?
It is easy for us to disconnect what we know from what we believe.
Knowing says, “God loves me.”
Believing begins to live like it is true.
Even the wise King Solomon knew that money would not save, power was limited, and the pursuit of pleasure would leave him empty. Yet it did not stop him from spending much of his life “chasing the wind,” as the book of Ecclesiastes repeatedly describes it.
Solomon often did what he knew was damaging.
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
(1 John 4:16)
Yesterday, I wanted to help you know that God loves you and will never stop loving you.
Today, I challenge you to actually believe it.
I do not mean simply mentally agree with it.
I am asking you to live as though God’s actual disposition toward you is love.
What does life look like when we live from God’s love rather than trying to earn God’s love?
What peace is found when we know we are loved without end?
What anxieties begin to melt away when we know the almighty God loves us and wants good for us?
It is one thing to “know” God loves you, but it is another thing to get on the ride of faith believing that God loves you.
Where are you disconnected in your thinking about God’s love?
What would change today if you actually lived like his love was true?
Knowing God’s Love
Consider the massive number of emojis on your phone. From sassy poses to beet-red anger, silly tongues sticking out, and even eyes replaced with hearts, emojis represent so many emotions we experience in our world.
Amuse me by considering this silly question:
What emoji best represents God’s face, thoughts, or attitude toward you right now?
Why did you pick that emoji?
A few weeks back, I was forced into the role of disciplining father for my son. It is not a position I enjoy, but I know it is necessary.
It was a hard week for all of us, and we were all needing to learn to handle our emotions more appropriately. I confess there are times when my anger and frustration lead me to say and do things I am not proud of in the discipline process.
I felt guilty, but then I was encouraged.
I received a report from Cooper’s school that, in a conversation with him, they asked, “Who do you love most?”
I had been bad cop most of the week, so I assumed “Mommy” would be the answer. But in this moment, he said, “My dad.”
I could feel a weight lift when I heard that because, even though the week had been challenging and I regretted some of my actions, my son still knew I loved him—and he loved me.
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
(1 John 4:16)
John writes that we have come to know and believe the love God has for us.
I wonder what it would look like in our lives if we truly came to know and believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the love that God has for us.
How much lighter would I feel if every thought I had of God began with him loving me?
What if every expression I imagined on God’s face toward me was one of love?
What if I constantly lived with the assurance of God’s delight in me, his care for me, and his desire to be with me?
When God feels distant, it is not because his heart has changed toward us. Often, we are the ones looking in the wrong places, traveling down the wrong paths, or pursuing the wrong things.
God’s heart toward you has never changed.
God’s love for you has never waned or wavered.
Do you know this love?
Have you ever considered that God only and always loves because he is love?
Today, no matter what happens, I want you to declare:
I know my Father loves me!
A God who loves us!
The letter of 1 John is written by John, the disciple of Jesus. In his Gospel, John refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” At first glance, you may read that as arrogant, as if John is claiming that only he was loved by Jesus while the others were merely liked.
As I have been sitting in this week’s verse, I no longer read it with any ill intent. Instead, I am beginning to understand that John was merely expressing the overall feeling he received from Jesus—LOVE!
I am convinced that God wants us all to say the same about ourselves:
Jordan, the son loved by God!
Insert your name as well.
Too often, however, that is not how I feel. I feel like a disappointment. I worry that I have not done enough, trusted enough, or believed enough to truly be loved by God—and I find myself simply hoping that he still likes me.
Have you ever felt that?
John writes as the one loved by Jesus these words that we will look at all week:
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.
(1 John 4:16–19)
Love is not something we earn from God; it is what we have received from him because he is love.
God is love, and he pours out his love on us.
Think back to Jesus’ baptism in Mark 1:9–11. Before Jesus had done any work to save, heal, or help—before the first miracle, the Sermon on the Mount, or even resisting temptation—God says these words about Jesus:
“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Jesus is loved not because of what he has done but because of who he is—the Son of God.
Our relationship with God is not exactly the same as Jesus’, but through Christ we have been brought into the family of God. We are adopted as sons and daughters.
Because of Jesus, you do not wake up each morning trying to convince your Father to love you.
You are loved.
God is not a fair-weather friend who only loves you when you are good, obedient, and trusting. God is a faithful Father who never stops and never gives up loving you.
What does Godliness look like?
What Does Godliness Look Like?
On Monday, we exposed how greatness can be goodness dressed up in church clothes.
On Tuesday, we hammered home that goodness is a step short of godliness that many of us rest on.
On Wednesday, we were reminded that godliness must start with God.
Yesterday, we were encouraged that our striving for godliness is not the scorecard for our salvation.
Today, I want us to think about what godliness looks like in our day-to-day lives.
Godliness is living out Christlikeness in response to Christ’s love.
It is a heart overwhelmed by grace activating hands and feet to live out grace!
Godliness is not merely service, but humility leading to service.
It is more than being kind; it is love for others leading to kindness.
Godliness is not simply excusing others, but forgiving because you have been forgiven.
Paul writes about this in Colossians 3:17:
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Greatness says: God, make me successful so I can be happy!
Goodness says: God, help me do enough to make You happy!
Godliness says: God, help me do what makes You happy!
A godly Christian is not one burdened by trying harder to be godly, but one seeking to honor God in all that they do.
So today, as you drive, what does godliness look like?
What does it look like while watching television? Parenting your children? Working with others?
We must seek to be godly when our minds wander, when fears arise, and when sadness shows up.
How can I make everything I do be done in a manner that honors God?
How can I keep God at the forefront of my mind rather than making Him an afterthought each day?