THE BIG POINT: The defining mark of is
Four truths about the love we are called to:
1. makes it possible to
2. Love is
3. Love is
4. Love
NOTES:
QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY
• What is one of the most impactful demonstrations of love you have
ever personally experienced or witnessed?
Read 1 John 2:7-11 & 3:10-24 and discuss:
• Why do you think John says the command to love is both “old” and
“new”?
• How does our love for other people demonstrate that we are living in
a new realm (darkness vs. light) and part of a new family?
• How does our love for Jesus change the way we see and treat other
people in God’s family? In what ways have you experienced your love
for others deepen as you’ve sought to love who Jesus loves?
• Explain the difference between the way John describes love in 1
John 3:16 and the way culture often describes it. What’s an example
of a sacrifice you’ve seen someone make out of love for another
believer? What did it reveal about their faith?
• Together as a group, come up with a definition of love using 1
Corinthians 13:4-7 as a roadmap. If love is a verb, which of the verbs in
these verses are most challenging for you right now?
• As you consider 1 John 3:19-24, how does loving others bring us
assurance in our faith and confidence before God? What are some
doubts that you wrestle with from time to time? How could love quiet
those doubts?
• Imagine if your family, your LIFEgroup, or our church fully lived out
this picture of love. What would be different?
PERSONAL REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
• Am I more prone to talk about love or actually demonstrate love?
Where do I see that in my life? Do I tend to love when it’s convenient,
or am I willing to love sacrificially?
• Read through 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 each day this week, substituting
your name for “love,” and ask God to shape your heart to live this out.
• What’s one relationship where God is nudging you to love more like
Jesus this week? How will you act on it?