Absorbing God’s Perfect Love and Spreading His Light

December 22, 2024

Text: 2 Corinthians 5:14 (NIV) – “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.”

Main Idea: The best way to spread God’s love is by consistently absorbing it ourselves.

I. Absorbing God’s Love:

God’s love fills us with abundant life, giving us the motive for Christian living and the energy to love others. (Romans 5:5)
To know God better is to understand His love for us—God is love.
It’s more about the intention of our hearts than specific methods.
How to absorb His love practically:
- Engage with God in our current emotional and spiritual state.
  - Even when we are “The Grinch”
- Believing and trusting in Scripture. (1 Peter 5:7)
  - Picture of frazzled coyote. What is most important is what direction he is headed in, towards or away from the Lord.
  - Faith is not necessarily emotional its about the decisions we make based on God’s truth.
  - We trust in traffic lights without consideration of our emotions.
- God’s love is also absorbed through our relationships with other believers.
  - Beware of isolation but cherish solitude. Allow the real us to speak to the Lord.
- Praise and Thanksgiving magnify the Lord instead of our problems.

II. The Impact of Absorbing God’s Love:

God’s love smooths life’s gears. Love songs reflect this transformation.
- The Temptations, The Carpenters, Bill Withers, Aladdin, Anita Baker, Earth, Wind & Fire.
Filled with God’s love, we naturally extend it to others.
- Example: Zacchaeus’s transformation (Luke 19).
Our love for God is a response to His love for us. (1 John 4:10, 1 John 4:19)

III. The Opportunity to Absorb God’s Love:

Christmas Reflection: Use this season to invite God into our inner place.
Ephesians 3:18-19 – Comprehend the love of Christ and be filled with the fullness of God.
Acknowledge and thank God for His blessings and our heavenly home.

Conclusion: