This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1 John 4:10
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Thought Of The Day...
When you think about it, it makes sense that love is the first of the virtues listed in Galatians 5:22-23 as “the fruit of the Spirit.” The spiritual qualities that follow are further elaborations on the primary fruit of love. It’s no wonder that 1 Corinthians 13, which details the attributes of love, has much in common with the description of the fruit of the Spirit. When we read there that love is patient, kind, and rejoices with the truth (see 1 Corinthians 13:4, 6) we see how the virtues of patience, kindness, and joy are expressions of love in action.
Love is a word used in many different contexts and is easily misunderstood. Our basic problem as sinful people has to do with love. You might say we all have a terrible love life: we love the wrong things for the wrong reasons and in the wrong ways. Even our love for good things can often go wrong.
The only cure for our lovesick hearts is the pure love of God. That’s the love God has shown us in Jesus, his Son. God’s love for a fallen world is a love so powerful that it enables us to love God, others, and even ourselves rightly. It’s God’s love that is the foundation for our love, just as a branch’s capacity to bear fruit depends entirely on the vine. Only God’s love for people will make us loving people.

Prayer...
Heavenly Father, We come before you with hearts full of gratitude for the incredible love you have shown us. Your love was perfectly revealed to us when you sent your only Son, Jesus, into the world to reconcile us to yourself. Your love is not something we could ever earn or deserve, but it is freely given to us through your grace and mercy.

Help us to truly understand the depth of your love, so that it may continue to transform our lives. May it soften our hearts and compel us to love others as you have loved us. Help us to see others through your eyes of love, and to extend grace and forgiveness to those who may not deserve it.

As we live out our days on this earth, may your love shine through us and draw others to you. May we be known as your disciples by the way we love one another.

Thank you, Father, for your love that knows no bounds and never fails. We pray all these things in the name of your precious Son, Jesus. Amen.