Someone once asked a friend, “Do you know what God is saying in this season?”
Without hesitation, the friend replied,
“Yes. God wants us to love Him with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our mind—and to love others as we love ourselves. And He’ll be saying the same thing next year… and the year after that.”
That response may sound simple, but according to Scripture, it’s exactly right. Jesus Himself said this is the greatest of all commandments:
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.”
“This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
— Matthew 22:37–40 (NLT)
But how can we truly love God—and others—unless we first know that He loves us?
You Are Deeply Loved
It’s one thing to know intellectually that “God loves me.”
It’s another to experience and believe it deep in your soul.
This is the kind of love that heals hearts, breaks chains, and brings us back to God. It’s the only power strong enough to rescue our souls from sin and the pressures of the world.
“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should,
how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.
Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
— Ephesians 3:18–19 (NLT)
The Second Greatest Sin?
Some say that the second greatest sin in the Church is putting the Great Commission before the Great Commandment.
In other words, we rush to “do ministry”—preach, serve, reach nations—but neglect the first thing God asks of us:
To love Him. To sit with Him. To know Him.
Ministry without love is just noise.
“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others,
I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”
— 1 Corinthians 13:1 (NLT)
God Desires Relationship—Not Religion
God doesn’t just want workers. He wants children. Friends.
He wants you.
“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me.
And because they love me, my Father will love them.
And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
— John 14:21 (NLT)
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.”
— John 15:9 (NLT)
God’s Love Changes How We Love Others
When we receive God’s love, we are changed from the inside out.
It softens us. It teaches us how to love others the same way He loves us.
“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God.
Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.
But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
— 1 John 4:7–8 (NLT)
“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
— John 13:35 (NLT)
“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
— John 15:12–13 (NLT)
Becoming Like Him
God doesn’t just want us to know His love; He wants us to become like Him—to become love itself.
“For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son,
so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
— Romans 8:29 (NLT)
True love looks like surrender.
It looks like serving.
It looks like becoming more and more like Jesus.
Prayer – Your Ongoing Connection With God
Loving God begins with talking to Him.
Not just when you’re in trouble. Not just when you need something.
But every day—like a Father and His child, a Friend and His beloved.
“Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances,
for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:17–18 (NLT)
“When you pray, don’t babble on and on…
Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him.
Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy…”
— Matthew 6:7–9 (NLT)
Scripture Discussion – Relationship with God
Love God & People
- Matthew 22:34–40 – Greatest commandment
- 1 John 4:7–21 – God is love
- John 14:15, 23–24 – Obedience and love
- John 15:12–13 – Love each other sacrificially
- Matthew 5:43–48 – Love even your enemies
- Ephesians 3:14–21 – Experience God’s love
The Nature of Love (God’s Character)
- 1 Corinthians 13:1–7 – Love is patient, kind, and never fails
Additional Scriptures for Reflection
Loving God
- Revelation 1:5–6 – Jesus’ love made us His priests
- 2 Corinthians 11:2–3 – Devotion like a bride
- Romans 5:5 – God’s love poured in us
- Romans 8:37–39 – Nothing can separate us from His love
- John 15:9 – Remain in His love
Loving Others
- 1 John 4:11 – If God loved us, we should love one another
- Romans 13:8 – Love fulfills the law
- 1 Peter 4:7–10 – Love covers a multitude of sins
- John 3:1–21 – Jesus loved the world and gave Himself for us
Prayer – Your Access to the Father
- Luke 11:1–13 – Ask, seek, knock
- Luke 18:1–8 – Persistent prayer
- Acts 4:23–31 – Prayer brings boldness
- Acts 13:1–3 – Prayer leads to direction
- John 15:1–17 – Abide in Christ
Teaching Takeaways
- The love of God is only found in Jesus. “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world
so that we might have eternal life through him.”
— 1 John 4:9 (NLT) - God desires relationship, not routine.
- To love God is to surrender completely.
- As we abide in Christ, we are shaped into love.
Final Thought
You don’t have to earn God’s love—it’s already been given.
And once you receive it, it flows out of you into others.
“We love each other because He loved us first.”
— 1 John 4:19 (NLT)
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