Knowing God's Perfect Love
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Think of a film or TV series about love that you have watched. Share some scenes that were memorable to you.
โข What is one of the most loving acts someone has done for you, and what impact did it have on you?
โข Why is love important?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ถ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฏ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ด. ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฐ:๐ณโ๐ญ๐ฌ
(Read also ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฐ.)
When we hear songs, read stories, or watch videos about love, we often describe it based on feelings or emotions. Some people view love in terms of transactional relationships, which can lead to self-service or expecting something in return. Love can easily be misunderstood because the world offers an incomplete meaning of it. But Godโs love is perfect, unconditional, and transformative. This is why the apostle John, in one of his letters, encouraged his audience to love the way God does. Today, letโs explore how God demonstrated His love and why we can truly love others.
๐ญ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑโ๐ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ.
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ถ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฏ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ.ย ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฐ:๐ณโ๐ด
In the passage above, John writes that God is the ultimate source and definition of true love. In fact, Godโs love is not just an attributeโit is His very essence. Everything God does is out of love. Anything done apart from His love does not reflect who He is. When we walk in a relationship with God, we learn to follow His ways and love others the way He does. How has God shown you His love? In what ways has God shown His love for others through you?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑโ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐.ย
๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ด. ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฐ:๐ตโ๐ญ๐ฌ
Sin marred and corrupted our understanding of love. Humanity became incapable of reflecting true love, falling short on multiple occasions. But because of His great love, God chose to send His Son, Jesus, to show us what love looks like. Jesusโ death on the cross is the ultimate demonstration of Godโs perfect loveโsacrificial, self-giving, and unconditional. We can understand what true love is like as we know and experience Godโs love. How has Jesusโ finished work on the cross changed your understanding of love?
Godโs love transforms us from the inside out and restores our identity in Him. John calls his readers as beloved and those who genuinely love others as those ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. As we continue to grasp His love, may we go deeper in our relationship with Him and extend His love to the people around us.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข How has this discussion changed or challenged your perspective of love?
โข Are there challenges or roadblocks that hinder you from receiving Godโs love? Ask God to help you overcome those and walk freely in His love for you.
โข Think of people close to you who need to receive Godโs love this week. How may you demonstrate His love for them through your words and actions?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for sending Jesus to die on the cross in our place as the greatest demonstration of His love. Thank Him that we can love because He first loved us.
โข Ask God to keep you grounded in His love every day. Pray that God would help you remain in His love, not in the way the world defines it.
โข Pray that God would help you have a heart for others. Ask God to show you how you can demonstrate His love in your places of influence this week.