As we are in the season of Lent, we are turning our focus to deepen our understanding of God’s love for us. Here is the fourth devotion that prepares us for our Easter observances:

IN WORD First Corinthians 13 is a familiar passage to many. It is read at weddings and any other time someone wants to define love from a biblical point of view. For most of us, it is the surest description of how we are to love.
But think about the passage’s foundational idea: love is not an out-of-the-blue emotion. It is a choice that takes its cues from the very nature of God. And if God loves, we can know that His love, like all of His attributes, is infinite. That’s an amazing thought. God doesn’t just love us; He loves us infinitely. When He forgives, He forgives completely. When He saves, He saves thoroughly. When He makes a covenant with us, it’s a forever covenant. The eternal, infinite God does not express His core attributes in temporary, partial ways. He is an extreme God with an extreme love.
That’s good for us to know, because we question His love often. Things don’t work out as we planned, and we wonder if God loves us. He doesn’t give us what we asked for, so we speculate that He might be withholding His affection. When we harbor such thoughts, we are underestimating God. We are applying our finite experience to an infinite being. The result is a distorted view.
IN DEED Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, making a couple of slight assumptions. Instead of seeing it as your instructions on how to love others, see it as God’s unlimited expression of Himself. To paraphrase: God’s love is infinitely patient, infinitely kind. It is completely devoid of envy, boasting, and pride. It is never rude, self-centered, or easily angered, and it keeps no record—none at all—of wrongs. God’s love could not possibly delight in evil, and it always rejoices with truth. His love is extremely zealous to protect, trust, hope, and persevere. Having read that as a description of God, now envision that kind of love as the subject of today’s verse, 1 John 3:1. That’s the kind of love God has lavished on us—unlimited, amazing, and free. We can never exhaust it. “Jesus, Thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love Thou art.” – Charles Wesley (“Worship the King” by Chris Tiegreen)

As 1 John 4:19 reminds us, we are called to love because He first loved us. Tiegreen’s devotion is a good reminder of how we should be reading 1 Corinthians 13. Rather than seeing the chapter as a challenge on how to love, we first need to see it as an assurance of how much God loves us. Meditate on the chapter this week and ask the Holy Spirit to help you deepen in your understanding and experience of God’s love. Have a blessed week! – from Singapore, Pastor Sam