“Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬ ‭CSB‬‬

I’ve read through the whole Bible a few times. I’m not saying that to brag but to point out what I have learned from the experience. From reading the whole of the Bible (and not just the New Testament) over and over again, I clearly get the sense that love is God’s primary goal for me. It’s His goal to love me, His goal for me to love Him, and His goal for me to love other people. Over and over and over, this point is made. It’s easy to pick out a snippet here and a blurb there that doesn’t sound anything like love, of course. If you try hard enough, you can make the Bible, or any book for that matter, say anything you want it to. However, you will have to very selectively pick and choose and take things out of context and gloss over key elements to make the Bible say anything other than God is love and He wants us to love each other. Today’s verse is one of so many verses that hammers home God’s main goal again. God loves me soooo much, and He in turn wants me to share this love with others. The verse says God loves me “in this way”, referring to earlier verses’ descriptions of His sacrifice to save me from death brought on by my own selfish choices. And the verse says in the same way I should love others. Sacrificially. I should give up things I have and like so that I can love others. I should give up my time, my money, my pride, my reputation, my health… whatever it takes, in order to love someone who may never even notice or care. That’s what God did, and it’s what the Bible says He expects from me. But that’s not the end. Why? Because God’s love for me didn’t end. And God’s love is enormous! Bigger than I can ever imagine! I can’t give faster than He can. Philanthropist R. G. Letourneau was fond of saying “I shovel out the money, and God shovels it back — but God has a bigger shovel.” If I give my time toward loving people, I will have more than enough time for myself. If I give my money toward loving people, I will have more than enough to meet my needs. If I think I’ve destroyed my reputation by loving people, I’ll discover how wrong I am about that. God asks me to test Him on these things. His love is bigger. It’s big enough for me to give it all away and still have more than I need. That’s what the Bible says. And that’s what I believe. Now, if I can only have the courage to live that out!

Dear God,

Thank you so much for your never-ending supply of love! And thank you for heaping it on my head. And thank you for showing me how much faster you can give than I can. Please remind me of this and show me where I am being stingy with my resources. Show me where I need to love more today. Forgive me for being afraid and for hoarding your love. Give me a generous heart, ready to love courageously.