Embracing Divine Love: Transforming Lives Through Service
Summary
Love is at the very heart of God’s nature, and everything flows from this truth. As we enter Ordinary Time in the church calendar—a season focused on God working through us—we are invited to reflect on what it means to be a people shaped by divine love. The English word “love” is broad and often ambiguous, but the New Testament’s use of the Greek word “agape” points to a love that is self-giving, sacrificial, and always seeking the good of the other. This is the love that defines God’s very being, as John writes, “God is love.” The Trinity itself is a community of love, a dynamic relationship of giving and receiving, and we are created to participate in that flow.
To truly love others, we must first be rooted in the love God has for us. This is not a matter of self-esteem or positive thinking, but a radical reorientation of our lives around the reality that we are deeply loved by God. Meditating on and soaking in this love transforms us from the inside out, enabling us to love others in ways we could never muster on our own. The greatest demonstration of this love is the sacrifice of Jesus, who gave himself for us even when our loves were disordered and self-centered. The cross is not just a symbol of suffering, but the ultimate revelation of God’s commitment to us—a love willing to bleed, to redeem, and to restore.
This love is not meant to be hoarded, but shared. The church is called to be a community where God’s love is made visible, not through grand gestures or perfect performance, but through humble, everyday acts of service and care. Our witness to the world is not our branding, our politics, or our perfection, but the way we love one another. Even in our messiness and imperfection, we can be a living testimony to the God who is love, as we forgive, serve, and bear with one another. Every small act of kindness becomes a signpost pointing to the massive, self-giving love of God. The invitation is simple: receive God’s love, and let it overflow in practical, tangible ways to those around you.
Key Takeaways
- God’s very nature is love, revealed most clearly in the Trinity—a community of self-giving, joyful relationship. To know God is to know a God who not only loves us, but delights in us and invites us into the divine family. Our understanding of God must be shaped by this reality, not by images of distance or coldness, but by the warmth of shared existence and affection. [09:58]
- The transformation of our lives begins with being rooted in God’s love. This is not about striving to be more loving through sheer effort, but about allowing ourselves to be saturated by the love God has for us. As we meditate on and receive this love, it changes our self-talk, our relationships, and our capacity to love others, even in our failures. [13:22]
- Sin is fundamentally a disordering of our loves—loving the wrong things, or loving good things in the wrong order. Jesus comes not only to forgive our sins, but to re-center our hearts, teaching us to love God first and our neighbors as ourselves. The cross is the ultimate act of love, where God’s self-giving overcomes our self-centeredness and opens the way for us to live rightly ordered lives. [18:17]
- The Spirit empowers us to be a community where love is the defining mark. Spiritual disciplines and practices are not ends in themselves, but means of shaping us into people who love God and one another. Our love for each other is the primary evidence of God’s presence among us, and the world will know God through the way we love. [27:20]
- Love is made tangible in the ordinary, often unnoticed acts of service and care. The example of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet shows that true love is not about grand gestures, but about meeting practical needs and serving others in humility. Every small act—helping with chores, offering encouragement, or simply being present—becomes a way to participate in God’s love and bear witness to it in the world. [32:23]
Youtube Chapters
[00:00] - Welcome
[01:09] - The Church Calendar and Ordinary Time
[02:04] - Marking Time by the Life of Jesus
[03:46] - What Is Love? The Limits of English
[04:59] - Four Kinds of Love in Greek
[05:55] - God Is Love: The Essence of God
[07:56] - The Trinity: Community at God’s Core
[09:58] - Created by Love, In Love, For Love
[11:24] - Rooted in Love: Paul’s Prayer
[13:22] - Transformation by Receiving God’s Love
[15:18] - The Sacrifice of Christ: Love Displayed
[18:17] - Sin as Disordered Love
[21:32] - The Mystery of Atonement
[23:51] - The Scandal of God’s Commitment
[25:40] - The Church as a Community of Love
[27:20] - Spiritual Formation into Love
[32:23] - Love in the Ordinary: Serving One Another
[35:44] - Invitation: A Hundred Little Acts of Love
Study Guide
Bible Study Discussion Guide: “God Is Love: Receiving and Sharing Divine Love”
---
### Bible Reading
1 John 4:7-16 (Main Text)
> Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 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. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. ... (continue through verse 16)
Ephesians 3:16-19
> I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
John 13:34-35
> “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
---
### Observation Questions
1. According to 1 John 4, what is the source of true love, and how is it most clearly demonstrated?
(see [05:55] and [15:18])
2. In Ephesians 3, what does Paul pray for the church to experience regarding God’s love?
(see [11:24])
3. What does Jesus say will be the defining mark of his disciples in John 13:34-35?
(see [26:31])
4. The sermon describes the Trinity as a “community of love.” How does this shape our understanding of God’s nature?
(see [07:56])
---
### Interpretation Questions
1. The sermon says, “God is love,” not just that God loves. What difference does it make to see love as God’s very nature, rather than just something God does?
(see [07:00])
2. Paul prays that we would be “rooted and established in love.” What might it look like for someone’s life to be organized around the reality of being deeply loved by God, rather than around self-esteem or performance?
(see [12:32])
3. The sermon talks about sin as “disordered love”—loving the wrong things or loving good things in the wrong order. How does this understanding of sin challenge or change the way we think about our struggles and failures?
(see [16:06])
4. The sermon says that the church’s witness is not about branding, politics, or perfection, but about the way we love one another. Why do you think this is so powerful to the watching world?
(see [26:31])
---
### Application Questions
1. The sermon invites us to “soak in” God’s love and let it transform us from the inside out. What is one practical way you could spend time this week meditating on or receiving God’s love for you? (For example: reading a passage, listening to a worship song, or sitting in silence.)
(see [13:22])
2. Think about your own “self-talk.” How would it change if you truly believed you are deeply loved by God, even in your failures? Is there a specific area where you struggle to accept God’s love?
(see [14:18])
3. The sermon describes sin as loving good things in the wrong order. Can you identify an area in your life where your loves might be out of order? What would it look like to reorder your loves this week?
(see [17:13])
4. Jesus’ love is shown most clearly in his sacrifice on the cross. Is there a relationship or situation in your life where you are being called to love sacrificially, even when it’s hard or inconvenient?
(see [15:18])
5. The sermon gives examples of “ordinary acts of love”—doing dishes, helping someone move, sending a text, or offering encouragement. What is one small, practical act of service you could do for someone in your church or neighborhood this week?
(see [32:23])
6. The church is called to be a “community of love,” even in our messiness and imperfection. Is there someone you need to forgive, apologize to, or bear with in love? What step could you take toward reconciliation or deeper care?
(see [30:03])
7. The sermon says, “Our love for each other is the primary evidence of God’s presence among us.” How can your small group or church family become more intentional about making God’s love visible in everyday life?
(see [27:20])
---
Closing Prayer Suggestion:
Invite the group to pray that God would help each person receive his love more deeply and show it in practical ways this week.
Devotional
Day 1: God Is Love—The Essence of God’s Character
At the very core of the universe is a God whose very nature is love. This is not simply a quality God possesses, but the very essence of who He is—Father, Son, and Spirit existing in a dynamic, joyful, self-giving community. To know God is to know a God who loves and delights in His creation, who invites us into relationship, and who desires that we live out of the reality that we are deeply loved. Let this truth shape your imagination, your self-talk, and your understanding of what it means to be human: you are created by love, in love, and for love. [07:00]
1 John 4:7-8 (ESV)
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
Reflection:
How would your view of yourself and others change if you truly believed that God’s deepest desire is to love and delight in you?
Day 2: Rooted in Love—Letting God’s Love Transform Us
To be rooted and established in love is to organize your life around the reality of God’s love for you. This is not a motivational pep talk, but a call to let every part of your life—your ambitions, relationships, behaviors, and even your self-talk—be permeated by the love of Christ. As you soak in this love, you begin to experience transformation, not by striving harder, but by allowing God’s love to fill and overflow from you. This is the foundation for loving others well: receiving and living out of the love you have first been given. [12:32]
Ephesians 3:17-19 (ESV)
"...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
Reflection:
What is one area of your life where you struggle to believe you are loved by God? How might you invite Him to speak His love into that place today?
Day 3: The Sacrifice of Christ—Love Displayed in Action
God’s love is not mere sentiment or passing emotion; it is most powerfully displayed in the sacrificial death of Jesus. Though our natural reflex is to love the wrong things or to love in the wrong order, Jesus comes to reorder our loves and to offer Himself as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. In the cross, we see the depth of God’s commitment—a love willing to bleed, to rescue us from our self-centeredness, and to invite us into resurrection life. This is a love that acts for the good of the whole world, a love that transforms and redeems. [15:18]
1 John 4:9-10 (ESV)
"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
Reflection:
Where do you see the tendency in your life to love things in the wrong order? What would it look like to let Jesus reorder your loves this week?
Day 4: The Church—A Community of Love as Witness
The church is called to be a community where God’s love is made visible—a people who love one another as Christ has loved us. This love is not shown by grand gestures or perfect performance, but by the Spirit’s work in us, forming us into a family marked by humility, honesty, gentleness, and grace. Our love for one another becomes the clearest witness to the world of who God is. Even in our messiness and imperfection, we are invited to let our love be an apologetic, an invitation for others to encounter the love of God through us. [26:31]
John 13:34-35 (ESV)
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
Reflection:
Who in your church community needs to experience God’s love through you this week? What is one practical way you can show them Christlike love?
Day 5: Everyday Acts—Serving Others in Ordinary Moments
The love of Jesus is not reserved for grand, heroic acts, but is most often displayed in the ordinary, everyday moments of serving others. Whether it’s doing the dishes, offering a meal, helping someone move, or simply checking in on a friend, these small acts of self-giving love become charged with meaning and significance. As you look for simple ways to be helpful, you participate in the ecosystem of love God is building in His family—a love that overflows from the church into the world. [34:25]
Galatians 5:13 (ESV)
"For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."
Reflection:
What is one small, specific act of service you can do for someone today to embody the love of Christ in an ordinary moment?
Quotes
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