Series: The Gifts Only God Can Give- The Gift of Love (1 John 4:7) by Pastor Paul Jacks

Devotional

Day 1: Love’s From God, Not Our Feelings

Love is not a mood that rises and falls; it is a choice rooted in God’s own life. We love truly only when we are connected to the Source, like a lamp that shines because it’s plugged in. When you draw near to God, He supplies what you cannot manufacture on your own. The Holy Spirit grows love in you as a fruit, not as a human achievement. Rest in this: you’re not asked to perform love, but to receive it and let it flow through you. Stay connected, and love will be more than words—it will be life in you [04:41]

Dear friends, let’s love each other because real love comes from God; everyone who practices this love shows they’ve been born of Him and actually know Him. If someone refuses to love, they reveal they don’t truly know God at all, because God’s very nature is love. 1 John 4:7–8

Reflection: Where are you trying to love from your own strength, and what simple practice this week will help you stay “plugged in” to God as your source?

Day 2: Love Shown: God Sent His Son

God did not love us from a safe distance; He moved toward us. He showed love not with slogans but with sacrifice, sending His Son so we might truly live. Even when we were not reaching for Him, He came for us, like a rescuer who jumps into icy waters without waiting for permission. This is what Christmas proclaims: love put on flesh and paid the price we could not pay. Let this truth quiet your striving and steady your hope. You were pursued, and you are still being pursued [07:41]

Here’s how God made His love visible among us: He sent His only Son into the world so that through Him we could actually live. This is love—not that we started by loving God, but that He started by loving us and sent His Son to deal with our sins once and for all. 1 John 4:9–10

Reflection: Who is God bringing to mind that needs love shown in action rather than words, and what one sacrificial step could you take in the next 48 hours?

Day 3: Love Shared: Reflecting Light to Others

Love is meant to be shared, not stored. When one candle lights another, nothing is lost—together the room grows brighter; so it is when you pass on God’s love. No one sees God with their eyes, but when love moves through His people, His presence becomes visible. You are a mirror, reflecting what you receive from Him to those around you. This is not optional—it’s a command soaked in grace, and His love is made complete as it moves through you. Ask Him to make you a steady light in a dim room [11:08]

Since God has loved us like this, we’re obligated to love each other. No one has seen God, but when we love one another, God takes up residence in us, and His love reaches its full expression in our life together. 1 John 4:11–12

Reflection: Whose “candle” could you light this week, and how will you reflect God’s love in a way that doesn’t expect anything in return?

Day 4: Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

Many carry a hidden dread that God is waiting to punish them, but His love does not work that way. Yes, we still reap what we sow, yet His heart toward us is steadfast kindness and welcome. Perfect love does not keep you at arm’s length; it draws you near and quiets the fear that you must perform to be accepted. You can bring Him your whole truth—your temptations, your temper, your tangled thoughts—and meet mercy. Let His unwavering love reshape how you pray, confess, and hope. In His presence, fear loses its grip [18:41]

We have come to rely on the love God has for us—God is love; those who live in love live in God, and He lives in them. In this, love matures in us so we can be confident; love and fear don’t share the same space—mature love pushes fear to the door, because fear expects punishment. 1 John 4:16–18

Reflection: What fear keeps you from drawing near to God, and how might remembering His unconditional love change your next conversation with Him?

Day 5: Obedient Love Overcomes the World

Loving God is not a burden; it looks like trusting Him enough to do what He says. His commands are gifts, not shackles, and the Spirit provides the strength to walk them out. Everyone born of God is already in the “overcome” column, because faith unites us to Jesus’ victory. The greatest gift wasn’t placed under a tree—it was placed on a tree, and from that cross flows the power to live differently. Take the gift off the shelf; unwrap it; put it to use in your relationships, choices, and rhythms. Step forward today in simple obedience, and watch love lead you into triumph [30:02]

Everyone who believes Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God, and loving the Father means loving His family and keeping His ways. This is what love for God looks like: we keep His commands—and they aren’t heavy to carry. Everyone born of God defeats the world; the victory that wins is our faith in Jesus, the Son of God. 1 John 5:1–5

Reflection: Is there a specific command of Jesus you’ve been postponing because it feels heavy, and what is one small act of obedience you can choose today as an act of love and faith?

Sermon Summary

Four days from Christmas, many of us are chasing presents, but God has already placed in our lives gifts that only he can give: joy, peace, hope—and today, love. First John 4 tells us love’s source isn’t our temperament, our family background, or our mood. Love comes from God. That means love is not chiefly a feeling; it’s a choice shaped by God’s character. The world talks about romance and preference, but Scripture reveals an unconditional love that acts. God showed love by sending his Son—love moved toward us, pursued us, and sacrificed for us when we could do nothing in return. That’s Christmas: not the date, but the descent of God the Son into flesh to rescue us.

Like a lamp that only shines when it’s plugged in, we can’t love if we’re not connected to the Source. Like a candle lighting another candle, we don’t lose anything by sharing love; we multiply light. We are mirrors—when we reflect God’s love, the invisible God becomes visible through his people. That’s why love is a command, not a suggestion. We can’t claim to love God vertically if we refuse to love people horizontally, even the hard-to-love, even those who oppose us.

None of this is possible without the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit begins with love, and many of us live as if God’s gifts are still wrapped under the tree. Take possession of what Christ already purchased: peace for your anxious nights, hope for troubling headlines, joy amid hard news, and love for difficult neighbors. God is love, and perfect love drives out fear. He is not a cosmic punisher waiting to pounce; yes, we reap what we sow, but his posture toward his children is affection, presence, and restoration.

To love God is to keep his commands, and his commands are not burdensome because love changes how obedience feels. In Christ, we overcome the world—faith filled with love becomes resilient in suffering, steady under pressure, and generous in a stingy season. The greatest gift wasn’t placed under a tree; it was placed on a tree for us. So give love on Christmas Day—because God has given love to you. New Creation, who is God calling you to love?

Key Takeaways

1. Love is sourced in God alone. Love doesn’t start in us; it starts in him. When we’re plugged into God, love moves from abstraction to action, from theory to sacrifice. This frees us from treating love as mood-dependent and anchors it in God’s steady character. The Source sustains what he commands. [04:41]
2. Love is action, not sentiment. Words can promise love, but only action proves it. God didn’t shout instructions from a distance; he crossed the distance in Christ. Our love must pursue, move, and serve—even when it costs. If it never costs us, it likely isn’t love yet. [07:41]
3. Perfect love dismantles fear’s grip. Fear expects punishment; love expects presence. When we remember God is love, we stop performing to earn favor and start trusting to obey. This doesn’t remove consequences of sin, but it does remove the fear that God’s heart is against us. [18:41]
4. The Spirit empowers costly obedience. Loving difficult people isn’t willpower; it’s Spirit power. The fruit of the Spirit is love, already given but often unopened in our daily lives. Receive what’s yours, and let the Spirit lead you into practical acts of patient, truthful, wise love. [16:26]
5. Victory flows from love-shaped faith. To love God is to keep his commands—and love makes obedience lighter, not heavier. In Christ, we overcome the world not by force but by faithful, resilient love. This victory is present-tense strength and future-tense confidence before God. [30:02]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:56] - Prayer and Text: 1 John 4
[04:41] - Love’s From God
[07:41] - Love Demonstrated by Sacrifice
[11:08] - Reflecting Love Like Light
[13:48] - How We Know We’re His
[16:26] - Unwrapped Gifts: Joy, Peace, Hope, Love
[18:41] - God Is Love; Fear Cast Out
[21:51] - From Fear to Trusting the Father
[25:01] - Unconditional Love vs. Earning Favor
[27:21] - Commanded to Love One Another
[30:02] - Love and Obedience: Our Victory
[33:06] - “Give Love on Christmas Day”
[36:05] - Rethinking God’s Heart Toward Us
[38:20] - Closing Prayer for Wisdom to Love

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- 1 John 4:7–5:5

Observation questions

According to 1 John 4:7–8, where does love come from, and what does that say about those who truly know God? How does this challenge common ideas that love is just a feeling? ([04:41])
In 1 John 4:9–10, list the action words that describe how God showed love. How do these verbs shape the difference between “saying love” and “showing love”? ([07:41])
1 John 4:12 says no one has seen God, yet his love is made complete in us. How do the images of a candle lighting another candle and a mirror reflecting light help you picture that truth? ([11:08])
What two truths sit side by side in 1 John 5:3–5 about God’s commands and overcoming the world? How are love, obedience, faith, and victory connected?

Interpretation questions

If “love is from God” (1 John 4:7), what does that imply about trying to love from temperament, family background, or mood? How does anchoring love in God’s character change what love is allowed to cost? ([04:41])
“Perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). How does that reshape a person’s view of God’s heart—punisher waiting to pounce versus Father who is present? How does the reaping-and-sowing principle fit without contradicting God’s love? ([18:41])
If the Spirit has already given love, joy, peace, and hope, what does it mean that many believers live as if those gifts are still “under the tree”? What keeps someone from “taking possession” of what’s already theirs in Christ? ([16:26])
“His commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). Why does love make obedience feel lighter, not heavier? What changes in someone’s heart when obedience is fueled by love rather than fear or earning? ([30:02])

Application questions

“Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” Who is one person—maybe even a believer—you find hard to love right now, and what one concrete action will you take this week to move toward them in love? ([27:21])
Where are you operating out of fear that God is just waiting to punish you? What would it look like to bring that exact struggle to the Father this week, trusting that his heart toward you is love? ([21:51])
Which gift feels “still wrapped” in your life—peace for anxious nights, hope for troubling headlines, joy amid hard news, or love for a difficult neighbor? What specific practice this week will be your way of “unwrapping” it? ([16:26])
Love is action, not sentiment. Where has love cost you anything recently—time, comfort, money, pride? If it hasn’t, what is one costly act of love you can choose in the next seven days? ([07:41])
Name one command of Jesus that currently feels heavy. How might remembering God’s love make that obedience lighter, and what is one small step you will take in faith this week? ([30:02])
Be a mirror. Who will you reflect God’s love to in a visible, practical way in the next 48 hours? Name the person and the action (a visit, a note, a meal, a forgiven debt, an apology). ([11:08])
“Give love on Christmas Day.” Who is one person you will intentionally bless with love this Christmas (or this week), and how will you do it? Name the time, place, and act. ([33:06])

Sermon Clips

this time of the year we get around our families and those extended family members that that we kind of struggle to love we don't like too much but the one thing we see about love and we'll see it through this path love is not an emotion love is a choice love is not is not a feeling it is a fact [00:04:09] (27 seconds) #LoveIsAChoice

now if anybody of us any one of us saw a kid or one of our actually let's say this we saw our child fall into a frozen river we're not gonna sit there and say hey somebody help hey somebody come on we're gonna go and try to rescue them without showing words that's love love is an action not words love doesn't shout instructions from safety but love pursues and that's what god did [00:07:27] (33 seconds) #LoveInAction

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