Love on 'em
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which have looked at and our hands have touched..." I began to read softly aloud. "...This we proclaim concerning the Word of life."
For the next ten minutes or so, we went around the room, reading aloud from the book of 1 John from start to finish. We do a lot of talking about the Word of God, but we don't often do very much listening. So this evening (in our weekly friend-gathering/devotional time) we decided to read the entire book of 1 John from start to finish together and listen to God's words instead of our own.
What we found was a beautiful message of love.
"But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him."
"Whoever loves his brother lives in light."
"How great is the love the father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God."
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us."
"God is love."
"Since God so loved us, so 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."
"Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."
And that's not even all. The theme of love is repeated over and over and over again. "This may seem to be a silly question," I asked after we had finished reading the book, "but I am going to ask it anyway. How can I best love you guys this week?"
At first, the question floated in silence in the air because no one wanted to actually ask for love. But soon enough, the room opened into conversation about how we could better love one another. "Well, my love language is quality time," one girl spoke. "I could really just use a big hug every now and then," another said. Someone piped up, "It means a lot to me when someone does a random act of kindness."
Funny, I thought to myself, how our group of friends has spent so much time together, yet this conversation has never come up. I realized that I didn't really know how I could best love my friends. I learned so much about them and their love languages by asking a simple questions. At the end of the conversation, I was full of ideas and excitement about loving my sisters in Christ.
I encourage you, too, to ask this questions to the people that you love: How can I best love you today?Then go love on 'em.
"Dear friends, since God so loved us, so we also ought to love one another. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him. In this way, God's love is made complete among us." (1 John 4:11, 16-17)
For the next ten minutes or so, we went around the room, reading aloud from the book of 1 John from start to finish. We do a lot of talking about the Word of God, but we don't often do very much listening. So this evening (in our weekly friend-gathering/devotional time) we decided to read the entire book of 1 John from start to finish together and listen to God's words instead of our own.
What we found was a beautiful message of love.
"But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him."
"Whoever loves his brother lives in light."
"How great is the love the father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God."
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us."
"God is love."
"Since God so loved us, so 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."
"Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."
And that's not even all. The theme of love is repeated over and over and over again. "This may seem to be a silly question," I asked after we had finished reading the book, "but I am going to ask it anyway. How can I best love you guys this week?"
At first, the question floated in silence in the air because no one wanted to actually ask for love. But soon enough, the room opened into conversation about how we could better love one another. "Well, my love language is quality time," one girl spoke. "I could really just use a big hug every now and then," another said. Someone piped up, "It means a lot to me when someone does a random act of kindness."
Funny, I thought to myself, how our group of friends has spent so much time together, yet this conversation has never come up. I realized that I didn't really know how I could best love my friends. I learned so much about them and their love languages by asking a simple questions. At the end of the conversation, I was full of ideas and excitement about loving my sisters in Christ.
I encourage you, too, to ask this questions to the people that you love: How can I best love you today?Then go love on 'em.
"Dear friends, since God so loved us, so we also ought to love one another. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him. In this way, God's love is made complete among us." (1 John 4:11, 16-17)
Great to have friends to love. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break!
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