Day 1 of 12 Reasons to Rejoice: Advent Devotions
You learned it as a child in Sunday school: “Jesus loves me, this I know…” It was probably pretty easy to blindly believe it then. But now that you’re older, do you ever doubt God’s love for you is as genuine and all-encompassing as the song says?
To answer that, we need more than just a cute little children’s song. We need the word of God himself:
Love is patient, love is kind… it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
This excerpt is from the most famous of love passages, used in Christian weddings galore. I’ll bet even some non-Christians would recognize it.
But consider the above passage alongside the following:
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins… God is love.
-1 John 4:9-10,16
God is love.
It doesn’t say that “God has love,” or “God likes love”, but “God is love.” You can’t have God without love any more than you can have the sun without heat. One is the very essence of the other. Therefore, 1 Corinthians could read something like this:
God is patient, God is kind… God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs.
Do you still doubt God’s love for you?
The Bible is very clear, and every story, psalm, and letter you find in it is another piece in the picture of God’s love.
Remember that when you look at your life. You may not understand the troubles you’re facing or the struggles you’re dealing with, but if you look at them in the context of God’s love, you will start to see the work of his hand on your life and your heart.
Rejoice, because God is love, and God loves you!
For Further Reading
The full passages from which the above verses were selected can be found in 1 Corinthians 13 and 1 John 4:7-21. See also Romans 5 and Ephesians 2:1-10.
Want to read more about God’s love? Check out these posts:
- How to Really, Truly Know God Loves You
- What Santa Can Teach Us About God’s Love
- 10 Bible Passages That Confirm God’s Love For You
- How to Love God: What Is God’s Love Language?
You don’t have to have all the answers.
but, hey, why not?
Bring me your questions about faith, life, God, the Bible… and I’ll help you find the answers.
Gosh this was a great read! Thank you ❤️❤️
It never ceases to amaze me nor do I ever tire of hearing how great is the Love of God…. For me….little old sinful me. Thank you, Lauren for another opportunity to ponder that thought.
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