Today’s reading: 1 John 4:8 and Ephesians 5:1
1 John 4:8
King James Version
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
Ephesians 5:1
King James Version
5 Be ye, therefore, followers of God, as dear children;
To know God is to know love and to experience this love continually is to have renewed motivations, even for work. As we grasp the depth of God’s love for us, we begin to see every part of our lives sustained and directed by that love. Over time this perspective affects every aspect of our lives. And because we spend so much of our lives engaged in it, one of our greatest needs is to have God’s love transform the way we work.
When we begin to experience God and his love, our whole being—heart, mind, soul, and strength—is engaged, and this experience cannot help but change how we approach work. It affects our motivations, relationships, and the work we do. We see ourselves working for God out of gratitude for what he has done for us, and our diligence at work reflects that gratitude.
As we consider the transformative power of God’s love, we must always ask ourselves: “Have we come to know the true living God, or are we more occupied with a projection of God informed by our intellect, desires, or experiences?” Only when we encounter this loving God are we indeed changed at the core of our being.
Connecting
God speaks into our lives, and his voice communicates a profound love that changes us in big and small ways. His love is not an abstract sentiment but is specific. He didn’t love humanity in some mysterious way. No, he sent his Son to live as a Jewish man, die on a Roman cross and rise again so that we could be saved and know him.