Gift of GodSample

Day 6: Love Like No Other God didn’t just give us material items. He gave us one of the best gifts of all: love. Not only love between people, but unconditional and eternal love coming from Him. His faithful servant tells us in 1 John 4:8, “whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” God is giving us a glimpse into himself. You know that feeling of when you truly love someone, or you feel truly loved? It’s the feeling of true joy, happiness, and acceptance. You feel all fuzzy and warm and it’s the best feeling ever. That’s how God is. Love is a part of him. If that feeling is just a glimpse of the father, then it’ll make you feel good to know that He offers that feeling to all of us in endless supply. God gives love. He loves every single one of us because we are His children. We aren’t just talking about everyday love from friends and family. We're talking about God’s blinding love. His amazing love is so powerful it makes your cup run over. It fills up your soul until it reaches the brim and then spills down the sides, impacting everyone around you. Just like walking out in faith, God replaces our sight with His sight. God renews us by letting us walk in a world where we only see Him. His love blinds us so that we must rely solely on our heavenly father to guide us. He wants us to completely lean on Him and lead others in the way we walk. When people look at you, they should see the love pouring out of you. They should see the difference in your walk. The difference in your talk. They should see you so filled up, that you’re spilling your contagious love with everyone around you. Do you ever notice those people who never seem to tire? For me, that’s my youth pastor. She does so much for everyone around her that you’d expect to see her slow down and become tired, but somehow, she doesn’t. That’s what happens when you accept God’s love. It saturates your life and you become the best possible version of yourself. You're able to do more because God gives you unexplainable spiritual energy. God also lifts those up in need. So those days when you get pushed along by your youth pastor to show up and do the work? That’s God! He encourages you to do the right thing. He encourages you to look deeper into what He has for you. God’s love is always present. Even when we don’t feel it, He still loves us. His cup is running over with love for us so that we never have to question our worth and whether we matter. God loves you! He’s for you! Repeat that a few times. Believe it. Discuss: 1) Write down three reasons why you deserve to be loved. 2) How can you show love to those around you? 3) What does it look like to accept God’s love? What about loving God?