Devotional Day 3 - Love One Another

Hey North Church friends,

I want to remind you how profoundly loved you are:

• You are the beloved of the Father. He loves you so much he did not spare his own Son but gave him up for you (Rom 8:32) 
• You are beloved by Jesus who, though he was God, did not count equality with God as something we could grasp but emptied himself and came to serve us all, ultimately giving his life up for us willingly so we could be restored to a right relationship with our Creator (Phil 2:6-8) 
• You are beloved by the Holy Spirit who does not fear the contagion of our sin, but enters our hearts to purify us from all of our uncleanliness (Heb 9:14)

It is out of the abounding, steadfast, never-changing, and powerful love of the triune God that I wish to encourage you through this personal devotional to love in a few different ways over the coming days.

Verse: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:34-35

Love One-Another: It is clear that Jesus designed the world to work in a certain way. This way might seem somewhat upside down to us, and what I am about to encourage you toward will seem a bit backward, but trust me on this. 

Your witness to the lost amongst us is magnified when you love your brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s a really interesting thing, but God uses the love amongst his people to show some of his goodness to those who are far from him. God works, in all things, the perfect plan of his will. When we love one another, God is not only caring for his people, but drawing those who are not yet his people to himself.
 
Paul tells us in Galatians 6:10, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” 
 
In our devotional verse for today, we see that Jesus also makes it clear to his disciples that if the world is going to know anything about the love he has for us, it’s going to be evident in how we interact with one another.

Let us find an opportunity to love one another. Then let us be invitational with the watching world to share that they too can know the selfless love of Christ for them.

Questions:

1. Who in our church needs to experience the love of God through you?
2. What opportunities do you have to love those in the household of faith (our church)?
3. Pray for members of our church who might be having a hard time right now and then engage with them.
4. Who do you need to pray for that God might open a door for you to share the Gospel with (Col 4:3)?