series artseries art

How to Find True Love

Accept that not all love is real

Let love be genuine. Romans 12:9 ESV

Not all love is good

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV

Do not love… this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the father in you. 1 John 2:15 ESV

Not all love is the same

Only God’s love can lead to true love

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8 ESV

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 NLT

My Notes

Personal Reflection Guide

Find a quiet spot to give a few more minutes for your heart to contemplate the weekend message. Our culture tends to overuse the word love. We love pizza and ice cream and we love our families. After hearing Pastor Matt’s sermon, what clicked for you about perhaps the wrong way you are understanding love? Are you loving anything or anyone that isn’t good for you to love? Ask God to show you and to give you courage to admit it if you are. Jesus continually showed us love throughout his life and that love carries a willing sacrifice, not a begrudging one. He reveals that true love actually costs us some things we may hold dear. Things like our agendas, desires and even our goals. As you look at the way you are loving others, ask God to show you the degree to which you are willing to sacrifice. Are you able to not only look out for your own interests but to put the interests of others ahead of yours? Ask God to show you the people in your life who you need to work on loving better. Then ask him for advice on how to best carry that out, asking him for the strength to love others, showing them the same love that he shows you. Consider seeking the advice of others who show love well. Close your time with this prayer: “God, help me to see the extent of your love for me. Help me to know that the death of your son Jesus was all the proof I would ever need to know you love me. Enable me to love people the way you intend for me to. Help me to ask for prayer and even guidance in this vital area of my life. Thank you for your unfailing love. Amen.”​

Discussion Questions

  1. What stood out to you in your personal Bible reading time this week? What have you learned about God or yourself so far?
  2. If a friend asked you to describe the word “love,” what words, images or illustrations would you use?
  3. Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. In what ways does your definition of love differ or line up with God’s definition?
  4. As you look at our current culture or even your own life, where can you see how a misplaced definition of love can lead you to a very different kind of life?
  5. If you replaced the word love with your name as you read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (i.e. “Jeremy is patient, Jeremy is kind...”), where would you be telling      the truth and where would you be lying?
  6. Read 1 John 4:7-8. What is one practical thing you can do this week to show God’s type of love to someone in your life?