Greatest Investment

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)

I hope you enjoyed the start to this new series last week.  I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get something out on Friday, but I’m hoping I can get a devotional out for every day this week.  This week, I want to focus on knowing God.  We have talked about how important it is to know that there is only ONE TRUE GOD.  But now I want to move a little deeper into this study.

It is impossible to love someone who you do not know.  So this week, I want to dive into knowing God.  Do you know God?  Do you know what He has done for you?  Let’s explore some of the qualities of God this week and in that prayerfully we will come out loving Him more.

John Piper puts it this way, “To love God we must know him.  God would not be honored by groundless love.  In fact, there is no such thing.  If we do not know anything about God, there is nothing in our mind to awaken love.  If love does not come from knowing God, there is no point in calling it love for God…”

Have you ever watched one of your relationships grow in love as you come to know them more.  I certainly have!  I see this with my husband.  The more I know him and can understand where He’s coming from… the more I love him.  I see it with my family members.  The more I take time to know them and understand their pains, the more I love them.  Every relationship I have grows as I invest time in it.  There is no relationship more important than my relationship with God.  This must grow first!  I cannot grow in any other relationship without first investing time in with God.

From the overflow of my relationship with the Lord, I am able to love, bless, encourage, and forgive others!  I cannot do any of this without God’s working inside of me.  The greatest investment of time I can make in a given day is in my walk with God.  I cannot love others without fully understanding how much God loves me.

God IS love!  So when I spend time with Him, I fill myself up with love.  I don’t need to find love in others because ultimately I have found it in God.  When I spend time with the Father, I get to know His heart for me.  I get to know what He desires for my life.  I get to know the King!  Oh, what a privilege I have to spend time with the Lord.  What a privilege to know His love!

Let’s explore more about this topic tomorrow.  May we get excited about knowing God and spending time with Him.

Dear Father God, Thank You for this amazing love that You have lavished on me (1 John 3:1).  It is such a privilege to know You and to spend time with You.  I pray that I will become a beautiful aroma of love to those around me, as I spend time with You.  Please clean out my heart and make me into all that You want me to be!

I’m all yours Lord!