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Devotional 1.9.2026


God So Loves

1 John 4:7–9

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. 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.

Scripture Reading – Matthew 2:13-15

 

Scripture teaches that love does not begin with us, but with God. “God is love,” and He shows that love by acting, by sending His Son so that we might live through Him (1 John 4:7–9). This same initiating love is visible in Exodus, where God’s people grow under oppression and face the threat of extinction. Even then, God is not absent. Through faithful women, courageous obedience, and quiet acts of defiance, God preserves life and prepares deliverance. Moses’ rescue is not accidental; it is providential love at work long before liberation comes. Together, these passages remind us that God’s love is not sentimental or passive. It is active, protective, and redemptive working through history and hardship to bring life where death seems certain.

 

The songs we sing help shape how we understand and respond to God’s love. God So Loved reminds us that love moved God to give, not from obligation, but grace. Jesus Loves Me grounds us in a simple yet profound truth: God’s love is personal and trustworthy, even when our faith feels small. Here I Am to Worship shifts our posture, showing that encountering God’s love leads naturally to surrender and adoration. Finally, Be Thou My Vision teaches us that love reorders our desires, shaping what we value and pursue. Together, these songs echo Scripture’s message: God’s love comes first, reaches us where we are, and invites a wholehearted response. As we sing, we are reminded that worship is not just expression, it is alignment with the God who loves us.

Further reading: Deuteronomy 7:7–9; Romans 5:6–8; John 3:16–17

 

Reflection Questions:

1.     Where have you seen God’s love sustaining or protecting you during difficult or uncertain seasons?

2.     How might truly believing that God’s love comes first change the way you respond to Him and to others?

 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me before I ever sought You. Help me trust Your love even when I cannot see what You are doing. Shape my heart so that Your love defines my thoughts, my choices, and my worship. Teach me to respond with faith, obedience, and gratitude. May my life reflect the love You have so freely given. Amen.

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