Icebreaker:
- List some of the things you “love.”
Going deeper
(Discussion is based on Doug’s sermon from 1 John 4; I’d encourage you to read the chapter to supplement discussion and understanding.)
It’s interesting to recognize that English has the same word to describe a person’s feelings for God, family and pizza, all wrapped up in this oft used four-letter word: love. What this means is that there’s a great deal of confusion around the word “love.”
- How do you define love?
- How does God define love? (1 John 4:8)
God defines himself as love. God is love. I think this leaves a lot of us floundering because we try so very hard to fit God into our little box. We try to fashion him in a way that we can understand. So it really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise when the loves in our lives fail, give out or fade. When we sell God short, we sell love short… and vice versa.
The truth of the matter is that God is greater than our wildest imagination (Isaiah 55:8). He’s bigger, greater and more loving than any of us have the capacity to understand. Scripture encourages us to pray for an understanding of God’s love (Ephesians 3:18-19), but it also recognizes that our minds can never fully comprehend God as he is.
So where does that leave us? Our minds can’t process love, and our words fall well short. What’re we left with?
Romans 5:8 “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
Even though we don’t understand, God still loves us; he is still our God. Even when we sin, he still loves us, and he shows us this love through his Son. His actions manifest his love, in a way that we can understand and feel.
- Do you understand God’s demonstration of love for you?
- Do you really understand God’s love for you? (Do you dwell on it daily, define your life through God’s love?)
- Do you love God?
I’ve often been told that usage time and resources show people what they really love, so we’ll ask the question today.
- What do your time and resources say you love? (What do you spend all your time and money on?)
- Do your actions say that you love God?
- What do these things say you love?
God spends his time (2 Peter 3:9, 2 Chronicles 16:9) looking and waiting for us. His storehouses are infinitely full of blessings for his children (Malachi 3:10). God’s time, resources and actions all point to his love for us.
God loves us all so very much.
- Do you believe God loves you?
- Is there anything holding you back from accepting God’s love?
- Is that thing worth it?
Reflect:
- Pray for a deeper understanding of God’s love.
- Pray for a chance to demonstrate your love for God to the world, and have the boldness to take that opportunity.
