Anchor Devotional

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True Love?

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ... We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:10, 19

When we love someone, we almost automatically do what we can to demonstrate it. We might post their photos on Facebook. We’ll call and text them often. We tell other people about them. We delight in spending time with them and spending money on them.

But what does it look like when am I loving Jesus? Am I talking to Him in prayer and spending time with Him in His Word? Do I give money to help spread the gospel? Am I telling others about Him and loving His people? All of these become sobering questions when I consider both how I show love and how He does.

Yet all these thoughts about our loving (or unloving) hearts are turned upside down when we read John’s words. It’s not about what we are doing; it’s not about how well we demonstrate devotion to God. Thank heaven it is not, because every day we fall short or outright fail in following the biblical command to love the Lord and to love His people. His immense and perfect love for us spurs us on to being caring, self-sacrificing, and forgiving. We love entirely because He first loved us!

SCRIPTURE FOCUS
1 John 4:7-12

INSIGHT
Think of how obvious it is that Jesus Christ loves you. Is it also obvious to others that you love Him?

THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Joshua 1-2
Psalm 97
Acts 21

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