Main Thought
Have you ever run out of something you need? Maybe you’ve run out of something like time, gas, or money. It’s tough to need something and not have enough. This happens with love too. There is an endless demand to love people, but we don’t have an endless supply of love. When love falls short, it produces problems like gossip, bitterness, or anger. What do we do when our ability to love falls short? We go to God! God’s “love supply” is endless. We can go to God as our shelter when we’re overwhelmed, when we’ve been hurt, or when we make mistakes. Once we’ve experienced God’s love, we’re better equipped to extend God’s love. God’s love becomes our standard and our source as we love others.
Main Passages
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
- Ephesians 3:17-19
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
- Ephesians 4:1-3
29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
- Ephesians 4:29-32
Discussion Questions
What stands out to you in the Main Thought or Passages above?
Have you felt short on love over the past week or two? What exposed your lack of love?
What do you think it means for God’s love to be our shelter or source? How will you tap into that?