We Must Learn God’s Love

Many of us know in our minds that God loves us. Yet, we struggle to truly know his love in our hearts. Our lips can say, “God is love,” but our hearts have trouble feeling it. The love God has for us is often hypothetical instead of experiential, assumed instead of lived, thought of instead of known.

This weak knowledge of God’s love for us makes us feel inadequate, guilty, aimless, unwanted, and hopeless.

More importantly, the Bible teaches us that deeply knowing God’s love for us is the only way to live the life he has for us. Knowing God’s love is the only way to follow Jesus. Treasuring that God treasures you is the only way to be Christian.

Jesus taught his disciples the supreme importance of learning his love. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love” (John 15:9).

Abiding in Jesus' love for us will give us the strength to follow him (John 15:10). Knowing he loved us first will make us love him (1 John 4:10). Knowing God intimately will help us overcome our doubts, guilt, and shame (Romans 8:32).

So, the question has to be asked: how do we learn to be loved?

In this reading plan, we will explore a few practical ways to learn God’s love, which are fleshed out more fully in the book Learning to Be Loved.

However, to begin, we must confess that we cannot do this work alone.

Learning God’s love is not a work of human hands or will. It is a work of the Holy Spirit.

That is why, to start our journey in learning God’s love, we must pray a prayer from the book of Ephesians.

As you turn to today’s passage, take time to read and understand what Paul, the author, is saying. He prays that the Holy Spirit would strengthen his readers to know God's love in the innermost parts of themselves.

After becoming familiar with the passage, I invite you to make this prayer your own. Cry out to God, asking him to strengthen your heart to comprehend his deep and wide love for you.

Watch the Teaching Clip on the verse of the day Ephesians 3:16 by Jeff Henderson: Here

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This devotional is part of a 3 days reading plan: Learning to be loved by David Bowden.