The One: AdventSample

The God of the Bible doesn’t just express love, he is love. As a triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit, he has always been and always will be an others-centered, self-giving, communal being. Love is not just one of his attributes. Love is the very nature of who he is. Jesus, the Son, fully embodies the love of God and demonstrates it most clearly when he gives his life on behalf of humanity. When people learn to trust Jesus’ love for them, they join in God’s community of love, and their very nature is transformed to love others with him.

Read:

1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16, 1 John 3:16, John 15:9-13

Reflect:

Review 1 John 4:16. Have you learned to trust that God truly loves you?

If so, describe your experience of receiving his love. What has changed in your life since you began to fully trust that God loves you? How can you share his love with someone today?

If not, describe how you have struggled to receive God’s love for you. What do you think would change in your life if you fully trusted that God loves you?


Review John 15:9. How much do you think God loves Jesus? Reflect on the idea that Jesus loves you just as much. What questions, thoughts, or feelings come up as you reflect on this?


Jesus compared his love to a place that you can live or “abide” in. To truly live somewhere, you first must move in, unpack, learn the space and how to operate comfortably in it. What else do you do when you live somewhere? How can this compare to what it’s like to trust in Jesus’ love for you?

Let your reading and reflection prompt a prayer. Talk to God about how his love amazes you, be honest about how you struggle to receive it, and ask for what you need to trust his love for you today.