Text: 1 John 4:16 NIV

Introduction

• The Love chapter must be 1 John 4, instead of 1 Corinthians 13.
• 1 Corinthians 13 speaks of love in general while 1 John 4 speaks of love in particular, and that is God’s love and ours.
• Everyone yearns to love and be loved by a friend, husband or wife, children, or sibling because we were created under the image of God who is the author of love.

God wants to love

• We are the object of God’s love. He lavished us with His love and that is why we are considered His children (1 John 3:1)
• He proves His love for us through His Son Jesus (1 John 4:9; John 3:16).
• Jesus did not come to earth and die for the angels, animals, nor plants but for us.

God wants to be loved in return

• The first and greatest commandment is to love Him (Matthew 22:37-38).

- It is difficult to love somebody whom you cannot see; we may struggle to get in touch with Him intellectually, let alone emotionally.

- We thought that if we work hard for God by serving Him at church, that means we love Him. Serving Him does not necessarily mean loving Him.

• He wants a fresh-kind of love. Let us exert every effort not to neglect the first love we had for Him on the day when we became a Christian (Revelation 2:2-4).