This post about love is the third in a three-parter that helps break down a biblical ordering of love. If you haven’t already, you might want to read the first two posts here:
The Truth About Love
More Truth About Love
It is imperative that we see culture’s lesser messages for what they are, know God’s truth about love, and pass this truth on to the next generation.
And that begins with a good and right, biblical ordering of love.
He Loves Us
Read The Truth About Love
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ~ 1 John 4:10
We love because he first loved us. ~ 1 John 4:19
First comes God’s love. His love is the very foundation on which our love is built.
Love God First
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. ~ Matthew 22:36-38
Jesus’ response was clear.
We are to love the Lord our God first, above all else, more than we love anything or anyone else.
Love Others
“And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ~ Matthew 22:39
Again, Jesus’ response was clear. The same concern we have for our own well-being, we are to have for the well-being of others. Loving your neighbor means seeking their highest good. It is the kind of love that moves toward others, even when it’s hard or costly.
In a good and right, biblical ordering of love, the foundation is God’s love. From His love we are to love the Lord our God first, and we are to love others as we love ourselves.
One flows naturally into the next. When we’re secure in God’s love for us, our hearts are stirred to love Him in return. And as His love fills us, it overflows into love for others.
If any of these feel like a struggle for you, bring them to the Lord. If it’s hard to believe God truly loves you, ask Him to convince you of His love. If you don’t love God above everything and everyone else, ask Him to grow your love for Him so that He is your first love. And if loving others feels difficult, ask Him to fill you with His love, so that you can pour it out freely.
Family Activity
One of main ways the Lord helps us is through His Word.
To help your family meditate on the truth about love, we’ve created a PDF with over 20 Bible verses. I encourage you to print them on cardstock, let your children cut them out, and hang them around your home as daily reminders of God’s love and what it means to love like Him.
If culture gives false messages about love, then we, by God’s grace, must be faithful to speak the truth. The next generation is listening. May the Lord lead us by His Word and help us to pass the truth on with conviction, clarity, and love.
0 Comments