February 26th, 2026
This week, I want to share with you what has been on my heart about the love of God. The Bible has a lot to say about God’s love, and there are many foundational verses that will be familiar to a Christian.
John 3:16 is the most well-known. It says,
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
1 John 4:8-9 says,
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.”
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says,
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.”
The only Biblical motivation for living or working for God is a response to His love. The Bible goes as far as to say that God is love. We know that He is also fully just and the entirety of truth, so we have to conclude that there is even love in His judgment.
If we have any ambition besides His love, then our path will not be straight. Paul said it was the love of Christ that controlled him. We cannot allow ourselves to be motivated by anything other than the purity of the gospel. We cannot allow ourselves to be led by anyone that is not aligned with the purity of His presence. Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5,
“When I came to you, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
It is enough to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In the revelation of His sacrifice are wrapped up every promise of the word of God. The Gospel carries the power of salvation. It carries the power to completely set you free from sin and its demands. His blood carries the power to make you physically whole, and it provides absolutely.
It is so important to hear truth preached from a pulpit. It is so important to be a part of a church body and to have people you are accountable to. However, the most important thing is to have intimacy with the One you were created for. Only His love will genuinely motivate you to live for Him. Holiness born out of love brings purity and life and creates a place for the joy of His presence. However, religious attempts to please God disguised as holiness will only breed death. The Pharisees did all the right things in public, but they were missing the only thing that mattered, which was intimacy with the Father in secret.
It is possible to look like you’re doing everything right and be completely missing it. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day kept the law better than everyone else but completely missed His heart. They weren’t motivated by love to live for Him. They weren’t motivated by love for His people. The only way we will have genuine love for the people God loves is to spend time with Him until we carry the compassion of His heart. Compassion without truth is compromise disguised as kindness. However, truth without compassion is just religious arrogance that won’t lead anyone to the heart of God. People who are far from God need to hear truth wrapped in love. We all need to daily hear God’s truth in our hearts, wrapped in love. We never outgrow the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Conviction of sin always carries a call to repent with a call to be loved and restored. God’s correction is always wrapped in His love for His children.
Samson was a man called and anointed of God. He was given supernatural strength and a call to deliver God’s people. However, the call came with a price of consecration. Samson failed to be motivated by relationship with God and holiness, and allowed pride, lust, and all kinds of sin to contaminate his calling. It’s a tragic story in the word of God and has one of the most sobering verses in the Bible. Judges 16:20 says,
‘Samson awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.’
Samson didn’t know the presence of God had left him. It’s possible to think you’re walking in alignment with God and completely miss it. We see this in the lives of Samson, Saul, the Pharisees, and many others. We can be guarded from this danger very easily by abiding in the love of God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Conviction is a gift, and it’s always a work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8). We have to live in sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit who always agrees with the written word of God. If we think we’ve outgrown accountability and conviction, then our spiritual pride will kill us. We will eventually walk right out of the will of God for our lives.
This week, allow God to point out anything in your heart that would keep you from the life and freedom He has for you. Lay down any motivation but the love of God and the power of the gospel. Kathryn Kuhlman said, “The anointing has only one environment and it’s a clean heart.” Psalm 24:3-6 says,
“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.”
Let us be a generation who seeks God’s face for no other motivation than the love of knowing Him! There is so much freedom in laying down every other ambition to seek the One who is worth it all. Let His love compel you this week. Let His love and conviction breathe life and peace into the areas of your heart that have felt heavy. There is so much freedom in surrendering in love!
John 3:16 is the most well-known. It says,
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
1 John 4:8-9 says,
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.”
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says,
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.”
The only Biblical motivation for living or working for God is a response to His love. The Bible goes as far as to say that God is love. We know that He is also fully just and the entirety of truth, so we have to conclude that there is even love in His judgment.
If we have any ambition besides His love, then our path will not be straight. Paul said it was the love of Christ that controlled him. We cannot allow ourselves to be motivated by anything other than the purity of the gospel. We cannot allow ourselves to be led by anyone that is not aligned with the purity of His presence. Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5,
“When I came to you, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
It is enough to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In the revelation of His sacrifice are wrapped up every promise of the word of God. The Gospel carries the power of salvation. It carries the power to completely set you free from sin and its demands. His blood carries the power to make you physically whole, and it provides absolutely.
It is so important to hear truth preached from a pulpit. It is so important to be a part of a church body and to have people you are accountable to. However, the most important thing is to have intimacy with the One you were created for. Only His love will genuinely motivate you to live for Him. Holiness born out of love brings purity and life and creates a place for the joy of His presence. However, religious attempts to please God disguised as holiness will only breed death. The Pharisees did all the right things in public, but they were missing the only thing that mattered, which was intimacy with the Father in secret.
It is possible to look like you’re doing everything right and be completely missing it. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day kept the law better than everyone else but completely missed His heart. They weren’t motivated by love to live for Him. They weren’t motivated by love for His people. The only way we will have genuine love for the people God loves is to spend time with Him until we carry the compassion of His heart. Compassion without truth is compromise disguised as kindness. However, truth without compassion is just religious arrogance that won’t lead anyone to the heart of God. People who are far from God need to hear truth wrapped in love. We all need to daily hear God’s truth in our hearts, wrapped in love. We never outgrow the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Conviction of sin always carries a call to repent with a call to be loved and restored. God’s correction is always wrapped in His love for His children.
Samson was a man called and anointed of God. He was given supernatural strength and a call to deliver God’s people. However, the call came with a price of consecration. Samson failed to be motivated by relationship with God and holiness, and allowed pride, lust, and all kinds of sin to contaminate his calling. It’s a tragic story in the word of God and has one of the most sobering verses in the Bible. Judges 16:20 says,
‘Samson awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.’
Samson didn’t know the presence of God had left him. It’s possible to think you’re walking in alignment with God and completely miss it. We see this in the lives of Samson, Saul, the Pharisees, and many others. We can be guarded from this danger very easily by abiding in the love of God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Conviction is a gift, and it’s always a work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8). We have to live in sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit who always agrees with the written word of God. If we think we’ve outgrown accountability and conviction, then our spiritual pride will kill us. We will eventually walk right out of the will of God for our lives.
This week, allow God to point out anything in your heart that would keep you from the life and freedom He has for you. Lay down any motivation but the love of God and the power of the gospel. Kathryn Kuhlman said, “The anointing has only one environment and it’s a clean heart.” Psalm 24:3-6 says,
“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.”
Let us be a generation who seeks God’s face for no other motivation than the love of knowing Him! There is so much freedom in laying down every other ambition to seek the One who is worth it all. Let His love compel you this week. Let His love and conviction breathe life and peace into the areas of your heart that have felt heavy. There is so much freedom in surrendering in love!
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