July 4, 2024 - 1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭16

“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” 1 John 4:16 NLT

Lord, we praise you for your love. It is always faithful. It is there unconditionally. It is perfect. You have proven it to us. Father, you allowed your son to come to earth, you watched him suffer, you allowed him to die so that you could make a way for us to be in relationship with you again. That and so much more shows us how much you fully love us. Jesus, you did all these things for us. You choose to take on all the sins of the world and the guilt and shame that comes with sin. We can’t even fathom what a weight that was. Yet you chose to bear it because of your love for us. We are not worthy. We mess up all the time. We make decisions that we know will cause you pain, yet still choose them. We are unfaithful to you. This isn’t a surprise, you knew we would do these things, yet you still choose to love us. Wow. How can we not fall on our faces before you and worship you? How can we not put our full trust in you? How can we not do all we can to choose you and your ways over our own desires.

Lord, teach us how to love you and others like you love us. Grow our ability to love. Increase our hunger for more of you. Help us desire to live holy lives. You are worthy of all our lives. We surrender our will to you. We give you all the praise for all eternity.

In Jesus name, amen.