This week’s verse goes along with “God is Love,” track 3 on the Seeds Family Worship album The Character of God. Check it out:

1 John 4:16

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

There are a few things sticking out to me with this verse. First of all, it’s only one verse! But it is still just as full of ideas to ponder throughout the week.

When I read the verse in preparation for this post, the part about believing the love God has for us really jumped out at me. You can know something, but sometimes to believe it is something entirely different. And knowing doesn’t just happen, but it is a process- we come to know.

I have known that God is love for a looong time, but do I believe the love he has for me? Do I live in light of it?

The way those words jumped out at me this time, I’m thinking maybe I don’t live as if God (who is love) actually has love for me. I do this earning/achievement thing, place guilt on myself that doesn’t belong there, and believe lies about my worth. I don’t think those actions line up with abiding in love. It would be worthwhile to study what the Bible says about the love of God, but just off the top of my head I can tell you it is vast, it is unending, it is powerful. That’s just from my head, though; I want to allow God’s love to overtake my heart.

Time constraints are keeping me from writing more today, but I have plenty to think about as I go about my week, preparing for a new school year of ABA therapy, preschool, and youth ministry. My prayer is that I will identify areas of my own life where I need to believe and abide in love, but also that I can speak that message to others.

This week I’m displaying part of 1 John 4:16 on my chalkboard:

As always, I would love to hear from you!