Love Like This

04/02/2025

“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
— 1 John 4:11 NIV

There are some verses in Scripture that stop us in our tracks, not because they are hard to understand, but because they are so clear and convicting. 1 John 4:11 is one of those verses.

John begins with an affectionate address: “Dear friends.” It’s personal. It’s pastoral. And then he drops a simple but powerful truth: “Since God so loved us…” The foundation of this verse and really of our entire faith, is God’s love for us. Not a distant, theoretical love, but a real, demonstrated, sacrificial love. The kind of love that sent Jesus to the cross. The kind of love that sought us when we were lost, forgave us when we were guilty, and adopted us when we were outsiders.

The only appropriate response to this kind of love, John says, is to love others. Not just the people we get along with. Not just those who make it easy. We are called to love the way God loved us, sacrificially, unconditionally, and consistently.

Think about someone who’s hard to love. Maybe it’s the co-worker who constantly complains. Maybe it’s a family member who wounded you deeply. Or maybe it’s someone who sees the world very differently than you do. Loving them doesn’t mean you agree with them or ignore boundaries, but it does mean you treat them with compassion, patience, and dignity.

During World War II, a Dutch Christian named Corrie ten Boom and her family helped hide Jews from the Nazis. They were eventually caught, and Corrie was sent to a concentration camp. Years after the war, she spoke about forgiveness at a church in Munich. After her message, a man approached her, one of the cruel guards from the camp. He extended his hand and asked for forgiveness. Corrie said she froze. Everything in her wanted to withhold it. But then she remembered God’s love for her, freely given, undeserved. She reached out her hand and forgave him, not from her own strength, but from God’s.

That’s what this verse is about. God so loved us, so we ought to love others.

Here are some ways for you to love like this.

Reflect on God’s love for you. Write down three ways God has shown His love in your life.

Extend love intentionally today. Think of someone who’s hard to love and find a small way to show kindness—send a note, say a prayer, or offer grace.

Pray for God’s strength. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill your heart with His love so you can give it away freely.

Choose one person today to love like Jesus. Not just in words, but in action. Go out of your way to bless them, whether they deserve it or not.

Father, thank You for loving me with a love I could never earn. Help me to grasp how deep, how wide, and how strong Your love truly is. And let that love overflow into the way I treat others. Teach me to love those who are difficult, to forgive as You have forgiven me, and to be a reflection of Your heart in a hurting world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Pastor Jeff

#LoveGod #LovePeople #FindFreedom #FindYourDesign

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