How Do We Know God Is Love?
Month 10: Loving One Another · Why We Believe
Today's Scripture
Read together: 1 John 4:7-10 & Romans 5:8
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. 10 And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. — 1 John 4:7-10
8 But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. — Romans 5:8
Memory Verse
“A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.”— John 13:34 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Malachi 1–4
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time.The Heart of It
The Bible doesn't just say God is loving. It makes a far bigger claim. "God is love" (). Love isn't only something God does on His good days. It's who He has always been. And that's possible because God is three Persons in one. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have loved one another perfectly since before the world ever existed. God was never lonely. He never needed us so He'd have someone to love. Out of that overflowing, never-ending love, He made a world, and He made you. Love came first. You are the result of it.
But how do we know this is true and not just a nice idea? John gives us the proof. "This is how God's love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world… as the atoning sacrifice for our sins" (). Anyone can say "I love you." God showed it. Paul makes it even sharper. "God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (). Not after we cleaned ourselves up. While we were still rebels. The cross is God's love nailed down where everyone can see it. That's how we know.
Around the Table
God doesn't just love you — God is love! He showed it by sending Jesus.
Let's do it: Make a heart with your hands and say, "God is love — He sent Jesus for me!"
Anyone can say "I love you." God proved His love by giving His Son for us.
Let's talk: What's the difference between saying you love someone and showing it?
Because God is three Persons in one, He was loving forever — He didn't need us, He chose us. The cross is the proof ().
Let's go deeper: Why does it matter that God loved us "while we were still sinners," not after we earned it?
💬 Conversation Starter
What's something a friend or family member did that proved they loved you — more than just words?
🛡️ Defending the Faith
When someone says, "If God is love, why isn't life always nice?" Love is not the same as comfort. A loving father lets his child face hard things. He sets boundaries. And he pays the highest price to rescue. God proved His love not by taking away every hardship, but by stepping into ours and dying for us (). The cross is His answer to whether He loves us. We can give that answer gently and with confidence ().
For Dad · Go Deeper
That God is eternally love rests on the Trinity. This doctrine is worth your study, not because it's a puzzle to solve, but because it's the deepest comfort you can hand your children. A lonely god who needed to create would love us out of need. But the triune God loves us out of fullness, and freely. That changes everything about how you parent. You are not the source of your family's worth. And you don't have to earn God's favor by performing well as a father. You lead a loved family out of an overflow you've already received. You're not working out of a tank you're frantically trying to fill. Rest in being loved before you try to be loving.
Draws on: Natasha Crain, Talking with Your Kids about God.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You that You are love. You proved it by sending Jesus to die for us. You loved us even when we were far from You. Help our family believe deep down that we are truly loved. And let that love spill over onto one another. In Jesus' name, amen."
God didn't just say He loves me. He proved it at the cross.