anglican devotional

The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 8 January 2022 – God Wants Us To Live A Life Full Of Love

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TOPIC: God Wants Us To Live A Life Full Of Love

Read: 1 John 4:7-21

  1. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
  2. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
  3. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
  4. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
  5. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
  6. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
  7. This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
  8. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
  9. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.
  10. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
    God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
  11. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
  12. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
  13. We love because he first loved us.
  14. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
  15. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

THE MESSAGE:

Do you know that God loves you? If you do, do you really believe it? The beloved disciple, John, who wrote this knew the love of God and believed it. This gave Him tremendous strength through all the trials he experienced. The knowledge of God’s love ought to give us strength and grace to survive the world with its troubles. God is at work through the believer’s experiences. You cannot be defeated because of God’s love. God is love. Everything about God is filled with love. Heaven is full of love and so is the earth, as far as the children of men will live in obedience to Christ’s teaching. God wants us to live a life of love too. Love is the greatest of all (1 Corinthians 13).

The whole commandments are summarised in one word: ‘LOVE.’ Love God and love your neighbour (Mark 12:28-31). If there is love, there will be no corrupt people, murderers, suicide bombers, adulterers, thieves and robbers, kidnappers, etc. Do you live a life of love? If you are a believer, this is the parameter with which to gauge your spirituality. If you are yet to appropriate the love of God in your life, open your heart by faith and ask Jesus Christ to come into your life.

PRAYER: Thank You Lord for Your love for me despite everything I am passing through now. Help me Holy Spirit to live a life of love, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.