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. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. … How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! —1 John 4:8-10; 3:1
Through a series of divine coincidences and interventions, some friends of mine who had remained childless through twenty-three years of marriage, and who hadn’t even had their names on an adoption list because they were considered over the age limit to adopt, were blessed with a beautiful little boy just a few days old. They knew they would love their little son devotedly whether or not he ever returned their love, but they set out to win the child’s love by demonstrating their love and affection for him. Then the day came when the couple’s little son began to return their affection. The father’s heart melted. What he felt was just a small expression of what our heavenly Father feels when His children start returning love back to Him.
{ PRAYER STARTER }
Let me fill Your heart with joy and love as I return to You a portion of the great love You have given to me. Teach me how to praise You better, to love You more, and to express my heart to You in thankfulness for all that You have done for me.
We will never exhaust the fullness of the depth of love
God has demonstrated for us by making us
His sons and daughters in His own house.
