series artseries art

Love Is Forever

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. 1 CORINTHIANS 13:13 NLT

God’s Love will never give up on me

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 1 CORINTHIANS 13:7 NLT

Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation. PSALM 100:3-5 NLT

Return, O LORD, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love. PSALM 6:4 NLT

God’s love already gave everything for me

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. JOHN 3:16-17 NLT

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 4:10 NLT

Real love sacrifices

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. ISAIAH 53:6 NLT

My understanding of God’s love will get better with time

But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. 1 CORINTHIANS 13:8-10 NLT

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 1 CORINTHIANS 13:12 NLT

Realize that we will never fully grasp God’s love in this life

And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. EPHESIANS 3:18 NLT

Realize real love requires lots of grace

Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. 1 PETER 4:8 NLT

My Notes

Personal Reflection Guide

Take a few minutes to slow down: consider taking a few slow, deep breaths as you still yourself before God. Offer Him any burdens that you might be carrying today, inviting Him into this time. When you are ready, ask God to reveal to yourself the degree to which you feel worthy of love. What comes up for you as you consider this question? Bring that question before God, asking Him to speak into this. Are there any images or memories that come to mind as you consider God’s love for you? Next, consider any periods in your life where you may have wandered from His love. When did you find God pulling you out of a ditch, even one that you may have wandered into time and time again? Thank Him for his persistent love for you, regardless of circumstances or your level of faithfulness to Him. Finally, consider Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Imagine Him dying just for you and you alone. What thoughts and feelings come up for you as you consider this? Bring these before God, expressing these to Him. Allow God to speak into these thoughts and feelings. Close your time by thanking God for His abundant love for you, and ask Him for reminders of this love as you go throughout your week.

Discussion Questions

Choose a couple of the following questions from each section that best fit your group. Or, have everyone read the questions, choosing which one(s) from each section that they feel led to respond to.

  1. START HERE: Who was your first crush?
  2. START HERE: Think of a close friend, a family member, or a spouse; in what ways has your love for that person changed over time?
  3. START HERE: Have you ever been picked last to be on a team or weren’t invited to “the” party? What did that feel like?
  4. KEEP GOING: Do you feel worthy of the kind of love God has for you?
  5. KEEP GOING: Read Psalm 100:3-5 (NLT). Has there ever been a time, even now, when you felt like God’s love gave up on you?
  6. KEEP GOING: Read 1 John 1:4 (NLT). What must God feel and think about you since He gave His Son for you?
  7. KEEP GOING: What would you say to someone who is doubting God’s love for them?
  8. LIVE IT OUT: Read 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT) How different would your life look if you woke up every morning knowing you were loved like that?
  9. LIVE IT OUT: Read 1 Peter 4:8 (NLT) How can you respond in love this week to unloving people?
  10. LIVE IT OUT: What is a verse you could memorize this week to remind yourself that God loves you endlessly?