We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
1 John 4:16 NLT
My personal approach to being a disciple of Jesus is to trust, listen, and obey. I believe if you do that, God will be very pleased with you.
God has many children and collectively we are his family. When we disciple others, teaching them to obey the Lord, it should be done in the context of a loving family. Spiritual fathers mentor spiritual sons. Spiritual mothers mentor spiritual daughters. Brothers sharpen brothers. Sisters sharpen sisters.
It’s all about love. If we do not have compassion, everything we do is useless. God is love. If we love, we have God. If we don’t, we don’t.
The entire Bible can be summarized in two commandments. Love God. Love your neighbor. That’s it. If you love your neighbor, you’re not going to steal from them or murder them. Focus on the love and the righteous actions will follow.
It’s impossible to truly love without God. Therefore, we must first trust in his love. If you don’t think God loves you, life is probably going to be pretty miserable. There was a time that I did not know God. I was a lost soul. I looked for truth, meaning and purpose in all the things of the world. No matter how much I consumed, I was never satisfied.
At the lowest point in my life, God revealed himself to me. I was saved in an instant. I’ve never been the same again. I am truly a new creation in Christ.
I’ve had my ups and downs since then. On a bad day you’d probably wonder if I even knew Jesus. The truth is, even in all my wanderings, I never lost faith in Jesus. I just knew I wasn’t walking with Him. The good news is, God loves us. He really loves us. He is patient with us as we all stray like wandering sheep. He is the Good Shepherd. He chases us down and rescues us from our sin.
Have you sinned? Have you stumbled recently? I have. God still loves you. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, not to judge us, but to correct us. He reminds us that we were created to be like God, not the world.
God’s love never fails. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, or what’s been done to you. Jesus paid the price already. Just confess your sins and God will forgive you. He loves you. He wants what’s best for you.
Trust in his love. Know that He loves you. Always has, always will. Ask Him for a deeper revelation of His love for you and everyone else. He doesn’t play favorites. His matchless love is for everyone.
God, give us this day an understanding of your love for us. Help us to know how much You love us. Help us to love others the way that You do. We love you, Lord. Amen.
And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
1 John 4:17 NLT
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