One-page Bible Study - LOVE

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Pdf available here

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These Bible Studies look at important aspects of Christian faith and practice. They can be done individually or used for group discussion. The Bible verses are profound – but keep the study simple. Let God speak to you through the verses, with these two questions in mind:

• What does this verse tell me about God and his good news?

• What does this verse tell me about living as a Christian?

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The apostle Paul famously wrote, “These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Love is at the heart of our experience of life and of God.

 

Knowing God’s love

One of the great truths of the Bible is that “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

See, for example, Psalm 86:15 and Romans 8:37-39.

God’s own being is a love relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he wants us to share in that relationship with him. See John 17:26, a profound prayer of Jesus, to the Father, for us.

 

So what is it that gets in the way of that? The Bible explains that as human beings we are all by nature dead to God’s love because of our sin. And sin is a serious matter which God can’t simply ignore. Instead, because of his love for us, he has done something wonderful and very costly, so that we can now know him. See John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4-5, 1 John 4:9-10.

 

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1), if we are willing to believe and receive him (John 1:12).

 

Showing God’s love

As God’s children, loved by him, the only fitting response is to show love in return 1 John 4:19.

 

First and foremost, our love should be returned to God himself – he wants us to love him, not just to believe in him. There is nothing more important than that. Matthew 22:37-38; John 21:15.

 

Secondly, we are to love people – our neighbour, our brother and sister, even our enemy:

See Matthew 22:39-40, John 13:34-35, Matthew 5:43-44, 1 John 3:23, 1 John 4:11-12.

 

We are to live a life of love, just as Christ loved us. Ephesians 5:1-2.

What does living a life of love look like? It will be shown in two kinds of ways:

(i) Love does no harm to its neighbour. Romans 13:8-10, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 1 John 4: 20-21

(ii) Love does good to its neighbour. Matthew 7:12, Luke 10:27-37, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

 

Growing in God’s love

All of which sounds wonderful, but it is, of course, beyond the power of any of us to love like that. Unless God himself puts his own love within us. And that is exactly what he promises to do:

“God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit...” Romans 5:5.

The command to “love your neighbour as yourself” is repeated in Galatians 5:14-15 and is then followed by a section about living by the Spirit. Love is the fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22-23.

 

So the key is to live close to Jesus, in order that his life and his love might flow through us – just like a vine and its branches, bearing fruit. See John 15:1-17 and in particular John 15:9-12.

 

There is a Bible prayer that gets to the heart of this and which we can make our own – a prayer that we might grasp the greatness of God’s love and know it for ourselves. Ephesians 3:16-19.

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