Love is... Six Lessons on What Love Looks Like

8/12/2019 Love is... Six Lessons on What Love Looks Like

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LOV E I S . . .

S I X L E S S O N S O N W H AT

L O V E L O O K S L I K E

J E N N A L U C A D O B I S H O P


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2013 by Jenna Lucado Bishop

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, NewInternational Version, NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used bypermission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations markedMSG are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All

rights reserved.

Scripture quotations markedNASB are taken from the NEW AMERICANSTANDARD BIBLE , The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971,1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations markedNLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4016-7856-2ISBN: 978 -1-4016-7857-9 (ebook)

13 14 15 16 17 QG 5 4 3 2 1
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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P Day 1Love Is: A SomeoneDay 1Love Is: A SomeoneEric was my first love.

Yes, Eric. Just Eric.

Dont ask me what his last name was. I didnt know then, and I dont

know now. But were last names important as a kindergartner? Abso-lutely not! The only requirements I had to fall in love as a five year old

were the following:He had to be cute.He had to be nice.

Oh, and if he gave me presents, like a cherry Ring Pop, that meant

he was really the one for.ev.er. (Or at least until recess was over.)Eric was cute. Check.

Eric was nice. Check.

Did he give me ring pops? No. Which leads me to the problems

with this first love of mine.

1 EEKWEEK


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LO V E I SL OV E I S . . .

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You see, Eric was a prince. And though my plastic, pink, princess

crown my mom bought me at Toys-R-Us qualified me as royalty in mylittle mind, Erics royal status was of a different level.

On top of the prince thing getting in the way, Eric was . . . well . . .

a cartoon. That was somewhat of a hurdle in our relationship. And the

icing on the cake? He was taken by my favorite Disney princess (andbest friend), Ariel.

So prince, plus cartoon, plus dating my BF, equaled unrequited love.

What about you?

Take a minute and write down whom your rst love was. What

qualities did he have that gave you the butteries?

Definition of UnrequitedDefinition of Unrequited

A ccording to Merriam Websters

ccording to Merriam Webstersdictionary,dictionary,unrequitedunrequited means not recipro-means not recipro-cated or returned in kind.cated or returned in kind. 11 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unrequited
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unrequitedhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unrequited


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An Introduction to the Most Confusi ng Word in the World

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Okay, maybe my love for Prince Eric wasnt necessarilylove as much

as it was a five-year-old crush. So what does real love look like? In orderto answer that question, we have to go to the book that defines true love.

Its not one of Shakespeares plays or a Jane Austen novel. No, the great-

est book about love, the source on love, the definition of love is the Bible.Read 1 John 4:16 and 1 John 4:8. What are the similarities between

these two verses?

Did you catch this: both verses contain the phrase God is love?

If that were a math problem what would it look like? (You didnt

think math would ever be used in a Bible study, did ya?)

Did your answer look something like mine?

God = Love.

This equation means the more you know God, the more you willknow not only what Love is butwho Love is. Because God IS love.

Okay, press pause on that thought, and now read John 14:910.

Write down what Jesus was telling His followers, the disciples.


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Jesus was telling His followers that He and the Father (aka God)

were one. So how can knowing this help our quest to find what reallove is?

Well, to know more about what love acts like, sounds like, lives like,

we look at the life of Jesus.

Going back to our mathematic equation, it would look somethinglike this:

God = Love

God = Jesus

Jesus = Love

Love isnt just a verb, a feeling, a choice, a phase, a noun.

Love is a Someone.And this Someone loves you. Yes, Love loves you!In fact, He cannot help but love you because He IS love.

Write down some initial characteristics, images or adjectives that

come to mind when you hear the name Jesus (i.e., a man in sandals,gentle, miracles).

Did you happen to include the wordlove in your answer?

I dont know how you picture Jesus. I dont know what your relation-

ship with Him looks like. Maybe the concept of a relationship with Him


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sounds kind of weird, or maybe its a relationship you have known all

your life.But for today and over the next handful of weeks we are going to

spend together, I want you to learn to associate the wordlove immedi-

ately with Jesus.

That means when you are listening to a love song on the radio, thinkof Jesus. That means when you are watching a romantic chick-flick,

think of Jesus. When you read the wordlove, hear the wordlove, sing theword love, express love, receive love, think of Jesus.

Maybe you have heard that famous Sunday school song over and

over: Jesus loves me. This I know. For the Bible tells me so.

But do youknow?Really know?

No matter how old we become, we can never fully grasp the loveGod has for us. But does that mean we shouldnt try? No! Id ratherspend my life discovering new treasures about Gods love than never

going on the adventure. Lets dive into Gods love deeper than ever

before! The Bible is our map on this treasure hunt. We are going to get

more acquainted with Gods Word and His love for us.

So lets continue looking closely at this treasure map by readingthese famous verses below. Circle all the characteristics of love in the

verses below.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it isnot proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices

with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, alwaysperseveres.

Love never fails. (1 Cor. 13:48)


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Okay, now reread those verses and anytime you read the wordlove,

or a pronoun representing love (the wordit), cross it out and replace itwith Jesus.

The more we know Love as a Someone, the more we know about

what love really is, how to love others, and how to see ourselves as loved.Lets spend a moment talking to Love. Your prayer can look

like mine if youd like, or you might want to come up with your own.

Regardless, just spend some time with Jesus asking Him to help youknow what love is.

$ J esus, thank You that You came to earth so that we could

esus, thank You that You came to earth so that we could

see what true love really looks like. Help us learn to associatesee what true love really looks like. Help us learn to associatelove, first and foremost, with You, because You are Love. Thanklove, first and foremost, with You, because You are Love. Thank

You for loving me. Would You hold my heart as I do this BibleYou for loving me. Would You hold my heart as I do this Bible

study? Shape my heart, mold it to look more and more like You.study? Shape my heart, mold it to look more and more like You.

I want to know You, Jesus, so open my heart to what You wantI want to know You, Jesus, so open my heart to what You want

to show me. And may I be forever changed through this journeyto show me. And may I be forever changed through this journey

Im about to go on to learn more about Your love.Im about to go on to learn more about Your love.

P Day 2Love Is: Tie DyeDay 2Love Is: Tie-DyeIve confused the meaning of the wordlove, a lot in life. Beginning with

that five-year-old little crush, bleeding into the way I treated my sisters,leaking over into my dramatic friendships in middle school, and run-

ning into my high school dating life . . .


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I havent loved others well, and Ive settled for relationships with

those who dont love me in return.I can remember my first boyfriend saying the three little-in-size, yet

profound-in-meaning words I had dreamed of hearing my entire life, I

love you.

We were sitting in the Sonic parking lot, sophomores in high school,sipping on some slushies.

Really? I thought. This is when you are going to tell me thewords I have dreamed of hearing my entire life? To me, slushies and fastfood dont make for the most romantic setting.

He was moving the very next day from my hometown of San Anto-

nio, Texas, all the way to New Jersey. New Jersey! So I thought, Well,maybe I should say the words back. After all, hes moving. Id be a jerk if

I didnt say it in return. And I do really like him. Maybe its love.So what do you think I did?Yep. I said it. I love you too came out of my mouth, and his face

turned bright red.

Wow, hes blushing! I thought.

Then I realized it. Nope.

Just the reflection from the neon, glowing, red Sonic Drive-In sign.I didnt know what those words meant when I said them. Maybe you

can relate. You dont know exactly what love should look like in a friend-ship, with family, or maybe even with a guy.

Does the word love ever confuse you? If so, why do you think that

word can be unclear? Write down your thoughts.


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I think love can be confusing because the world tosses out so many

different definitions, examples, and advice about what it is. Its like atie-dye t-shirt. All of these opinions, pieces of advice, and beliefs swirl-ing around, bleeding into each other, leaving us dizzy and wondering,

What in the world is love?

Too Many Definitions of LoveToo Many Definitions of Love

Merriam-Webster defines love as the following:2

1. Loveis strong affection for another arising out of kinship or per-

sonal ties

2. attraction based on sexual desire: affection and tenderness felt bylovers

3. affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests

The famous definition, Loveis blind, originated from the most

historically renowned love author, William Shakespeare.

The Beatles said loveis all you need.Martin Luther King said, Love is the only force capable of trans-

forming an enemy into a friend.3

Now its your turn.Write your denition of love in the space below.

2 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/love

3 Martin Luther King, Jr., Loving Your Enemies, in A Gift of Love: Sermons fromStrength to Love and Other Preachings(Boston: Beacon, 2012), 50.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lovehttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/love


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Too Many Examples of LoveToo Many Examples of Love

Maybe its the influence of your parents or grandparents. Maybe its

watching your friend navigate through her first dating relationship orseeing an older sibling struggle through a friendship. Maybe its all the

romantic comedies you have watched or seeing a friend you look up to

fight with her parents.The relationships you watch influence your definition of love. No

matter how healthy or unhealthy they are, these relationships will leave a

thumbprint on your heart. They have set an example.List some relationships you have watched (good and bad) that have

inuenced the way you see love.

Too Much dvice about LoveToo Much Advice about Love

Our friends, our family, the television, magazines, books, doctors, Web

sites . . . no matter where we turn, different people or mediums hand usanswers to our questions about love. For me, growing up I typically

turned to my friends for love advice. But what about you?

Who or what has given you love advice, or who/what do you turn tofor answers about love? (Again, this can be love in friendship, with fam-

ily, a boy, whatever.)


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World Love Versus God LoveWorld Love Versus God Love

There are love languages, love bugs, love letters, love novels, love poems,

love spells, love handles.You can want love, fall in love, be in love, hate love, lose love, love

love.

If every definition, example, and piece of advice were a differentcolor, we would have a tie-dye masterpiece. Thousands of colors swirling

around, running into the other. What a confusing mess!

Amidst the worlds messages about love, Gods message becomesfaint.

Compare and contrast the verses between the world and God.

Write down the differences you see between them based on the verseprovided.

ScriptureScripture CharacteristicCharacteristic

Proverbs 20:6 Man:

Psalm 130:7 God:

1 Peter 1:2425 Man:

God:

1 Samuel 16:7 Man:

God:

Mark 7:2123 Man:

1 Peter 2:22 God:


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Overall, what did you learn about the characteristics of man versus

the characteristics of God?

What does this teach you about listening to the worlds messagesabout love versus listening to Gods message of love?

To know what real love is, we have to turn to Jesus.Does this mean we should never listen to other people to receive

counsel on love? Well, you tell me. Read these verses and write down

your thoughts.

Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will becounted among the wise. (Prov. 19:20NIV 2011)

The naive believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps.(Prov. 14:15NASB)

Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are con-sumed by their own lips. (Eccl. 10:12NIV 2011)


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Listening to wise counsel is good, but remember that not all advice is

wise. So what do we do? We filter the words of others through the Wordof God. Gods words are always flawless (Prov. 30:56). So everything you hear about love, read about love, see about love should be filtered

through what the Bible says about love.

Jesus is our definition of love, our example of love, and our primaryadvice-giver on love. Will we still struggle with love and make wrong

decisions in the name of love? Absolutely. And thats okay. We willnever have it all figured out. But thankfully we have a God who does. Solets keep looking to Him. The Author of love. The Source of love. The

Love above all loves.

Jesus = Love.No confusing tie-dye about that.

PrayPray

Lets close by thanking Jesus for being our guide on this love journey.

Pray along with me, and then feel free to make your chat with Jesus

more personal with a prayer of your own.

$ J esus, love can be so confusing. Forgive me for listening to the

esus, love can be so confusing. Forgive me for listening to the

worlds idea of love more than Your idea of love. I want to lookworlds idea of love more than Your idea of love. I want to look

to You for guidance, so that I can love others better, love myselfto You for guidance, so that I can love others better, love myself

better and love You more. Will you help me? Will You showbetter and love You more. Will you help me? Will You show

me the way to love like You? Please make my heart more sensi-me the way to love like You? Please make my heart more sensi-tive to what You want to teach me about love. Amen.tive to what You want to teach me about love. Amen.


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P Day 3Love Is: A Bulls EyeDay 3Love Is: A Bulls-EyeIvemisused it,misunderstood it,misrepresented it.

Insert any word you can think of that starts withmis, and Ive done it

to love.How do I know Ive messed up love? Because Ive compared my

heart to Jesus heart. Yesterday we said that we always use Jesus and His

Word as our definer of love, example of love, and advice-giver on love.But we also need to look at Jesus as our standard of love. If I compare

myself to His standard of love, this is what I find:

Ivemissed the love target. (Theres anothermis word.)But I dont think Im the only one. In fact, I know Im not the only

one.

Weve all messed up love, allmissed the love mark.Why?

Well, sure, one of our answers could be what we learned yesterday.

We mess up love because the world has confused its definition. But

theres a deeper answer. A three-little-letter answer that has caused awhole lot of problems. Itis the problem.

Sin.

Our reaction to the word love is a little different from our reactionto the wordsin, isnt it?

Love draws a smile. Sin draws a frown. Love is a common conver-

sation topic, but I doubt you ever sit around with your friends and say,Lets talk about sin! Love makes your stomach flutter. Sin makes your

stomach sick.

So why am I bringing up sin if this is a study on love? Because . . .To understand how beautiful the love of Jesus is, we have to understand

how ugly our sin is.


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To begin our chat about sin, Im going to give you a simple deni-

tion. But before I give you a denition, write down your own. What issin?

Everyone typically has his or her own way of defining sin. So lets

look at a simple definition that will put us on the same page.

Definition of SinDefinition of Sin

S in means to miss the mark.

in means to miss the mark.Lets say were looking at a target, and the bulls-

eye represents acting rightly, then sinning is makingany decision outside of that red, round bulls-eye. Its a

choice to do anything outside of what God wants for us.To give you some extra education, the New Testa-

ment of the Bible was originally written in Greek. Thewriters of the New Testament used multiple Greekwords for sin, but the one they most frequently usedwashamartia , which means missing the mark.4

4 Lehman Strauss, The Doctrine of Sin,http://bible.org/article/doctrine-sin.
http://bible.org/article/doctrine-sinhttp://bible.org/article/doctrine-sin


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$The moment you have a self at all, there is a possibility of putting your-self firstwanting to be the centrewanting to be God, in fact. Thatwas the sin of Satan: and that was the sin he taught the human race.

C. S. Lewis5

You are welcome to read the story for yourself in Genesis 3. But for

now, we will focus on the fact that Adam and Eve decided to dishonor

God by doing what they wanted to do instead of what God asked themto do. They decided to go outside the bulls-eye, to miss the mark.

This sin separated them from being in a perfect relationship with a

perfect God.Read Isaiah 59:2 . What does this verse say sin does to God and His

people?

We have all missed the mark, stepping outside Gods plan for us.

This means we all have a gap between us and God, a separation betweenus and Perfect Love.

Read Romans 3:23. Based on this verse, who has sinned? Who has

fallen short?

5 C. S. Lewis,Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 2000), 64-65.


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So because we have sinned, we have tainted love.

The heart is deceitful above all things. (Jer. 17:9)

As humans, we dont have the capability to love purely, because lovecomes from the heart, and what are our hearts like? Well, as we see in

Jeremiah, our hearts have sin in them. They are messy. Full of junk.

And because of that, the way we love can be pretty messy too.

Thats why we havemisused love,misinterpreted love,misunderstoodlove,missed the mark on love. Thats why our idea of love is so messed

up. He said he loved you, but then he abused you. They said theyloved you, but then they excluded you. Dad said he loved you, but

then he left you. Mom said she loved you, but then she hurt you.

I know this isnt fun, but write down a time when you were hurt by

someone you thought loved you:

Okay, to continue with the not fun activity, write down timeswhen you have hurt others that you loved:

Remember: we haveall sinned. I know its unfair that he hurt you,

or she betrayed you. But our hearts areall messy. Its in our nature.


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We have all fallen from God and are separated from God. We areall

outside of the bulls-eye.If God is love, and we have separated ourselves from Him, then that

means we have separated ourselves from truelove.

So what do we do?If sin separates us from God, how can we step back into a relation-

ship with Him, like Adam and Eve had in the garden? How can we step

back inside the bulls-eye, where we live inside perfect love? Is it evenpossible? We will answer those questions tomorrow.

But for now, lets talk to God and tell Him how sorry we are about

the sin in our lives and the way we havemissed the mark on His idea oflove. I will start the prayer, and then spend some time getting personal

with God about the sin in your heart. Remember, He loves you. He

already sees your heart. So dont be afraid to share it with Him.

PrayPray

J esus, I am a sinner. So many times I have put myself before

esus, I am a sinner. So many times I have put myself before

You, chosen what I wanted to do instead of what You desired meYou, chosen what I wanted to do instead of what You desired me

to do. I have made poor choices, hurting others instead of lovingto do. I have made poor choices, hurting others instead of lovingthem. I have even been unkind to myself. Lord, though this is athem. I have even been unkind to myself. Lord, though this is a

little uncomfortable for me, will You show me some sin issues thatlittle uncomfortable for me, will You show me some sin issues that

I have in my heart that are keeping me from loving others, myselfI have in my heart that are keeping me from loving others, myself

or You more?or You more?

(Ask God to reveal the sin in your heart. It may be lack of(Ask God to reveal the sin in your heart. It may be lack offorgiveness, a patience problem, a gossiping tongue or disrespect forgiveness, a patience problem, a gossiping tongue or disrespect


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towards authority . . . Let God show You some dark areas thattowards authority . . . Let God show You some dark areas that

He wants to work on in your heart.)He wants to work on in your heart.)

P Day 4Love Is: The CrossDay 4Love Is: The CrossIve stared at a blank page for an hour now, asking God how in the

world Im supposed to open up the lesson for today. How do I begin toexpress my thoughts about the story that split our calendar, the story thatredeemed humanity, the story that bridged the eternal separation that

sin caused, the story that brought man into the presence of Perfect Love

again, back into the bulls-eyethe story of Christs death on the cross?And so Ive decided that no illustration, no gimmick, no story, no

joke is necessary. Anything I add will only take away. The cross standsalone.

Lets just read it.

John 19. Go for it.

What you just read? Yeah, thats love. The greatest love story evertold.

It far outweighs the famous love of Queen Victoria for her husbandAlbert. Do you know that love story? For twenty-one years, QueenVictoria of England was married to the love of her life, Prince Albert.

They had nine children. He died tragically of typhoid fever, and Queen

Victoria never stopped mourning. The rest of her forty-year life shewore black signifying her devotion to him. She traveled with his portrait

wherever she went so that she could wake up to his face.6

6 Berkshires Greatest Royal Love Story,http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2009/02/09/queen_victoria_albert_windsor_feature.shtml.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2009/02/09/queen_victoria_albert_windsor_feature.shtmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2009/02/09/queen_victoria_albert_windsor_feature.shtmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2009/02/09/queen_victoria_albert_windsor_feature.shtmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2009/02/09/queen_victoria_albert_windsor_feature.shtml


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Wow. That is faithfulness. But when comparing it to the love of

Jesus for us, it is like a lightening bug to the sun. Nothing can outshineHis love for you.

The greatest demonstration of love was not Juliette drinking the vile

of poison to die beside Romeo. The greatest demonstration of love is not

a Disney fairytale, a Nicolas Sparks romance, or even the day you say Ido.

No, the greatest demonstration of love happened on a Fridayafternoon two thousand years ago on a hill outside of Jerusalem calledGolgatha.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were stillsinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8)

Why did it have to happen? Why did Jesus have to die? Write down your initial thoughts, and Ill chime in below.

In our last lesson, we talked about how our sin separates us from

a holy, good God. And not only does our sin separate us from God, it

deserves a penalty.Read Romans 6:23. What does this verse say is our penalty for sin?

Write your answer in the blank: ___________________________


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Does this death penalty seem harsh to you? Be honest in your

answer below.

There was a time when I thought God was a mean God. Whywould He give such a steep punishment for sin? Death? Really? But the

more I learned about the heart of Godthe more I learned about His

love for methe more I understood the penalty of sin. Lets look atthree discoveries that shed light on why God has to punish sin.

1. A just and fair God must be just and fair.a. If a murderer stood before a judge, and the judge released him on

account of love. Is that real love? I dont believe it is. True love

is fair. If a parent allows a childs disobedience to go unpunished,

is that true love?

b. He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are

just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he(Deut. 32:4).

2. He desires that all men be saved.

a. God is just in nature, but that doesnt mean He desires punish-ment to fall on us.

b. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understandslowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,

but everyone to come torepentance (2 Peter 3:9, emphasis mine).


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way into His forgiveness. Through Jesus, there is a way out of death and

into eternal life. Jesus made a way. This is love.Tomorrow we will chat more about the gift of the cross. But for now,

lets pause and thank Jesus for taking our place. Spend some time with

Love, expressing your gratitude.

PrayPray

For your prayer time, use the words of 1 John 4:10 (below), and say themout loud. Ive replaced any of the second person pronouns to first personpronouns in order to personalize the verse. (Remember that from Eng-

lish class?) Focus on it. Sit on it. God loves you so much.

$T is is love: not that I loved God, but that he loved ME and

his is love: not that I loved God, but that he loved ME and

sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for MY sins.sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for MY sins.

P Day 5Love Is: AliveDay 5Love Is: AliveMary Magdalene.

We dont know much about her.

The Bible doesnt give many details.But we know a few things.

She was demon-possessed.

Jesus healed her of her demons.She was a follower of Jesus.

She financially contributed to Jesus ministry.


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And she was the first person to see the empty tomb and the risen

Savior.Read what she saw in Matthew 28:110.List some major events that take place in these ten verses.

Mary knew sin. I dont know what her life looked like before Jesus,

but we know it was dark. She was a prisoner to her own body taken overby demonic powers. We get a glimpse of her life after meeting Jesus. Its

a life healed and transformed by Jesus. Its a life so committed to Him

that she was the first to His gravesite that early Sunday morning. Andits a life that physically witnessed the hope that Love is not dead. Hes

alive. We will look at our girl Mary Magdalene a little more in depth

later on in our Bible study, but for now I want us to focus on what she sawthat early Sunday morninga Love no longer dead, but alive.


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Promises of the ResurrectionPromises of the Resurrection

Because Jesus rose from the dead, you and I have two primary promises

we can count on.

Promise #1A forever relationship with God in heavenPromise #1A forever relationship with God in heaven

Read Philippians 3:2021 and write down what this verse says our prom-

ise is because of the resurrection.

Through Jesus victory over death, we also receive victory overdeath! Through Loves sacrifice and resurrection, when someone asks

you what your address is, you can say, Heaven, baby! Im a citizen of

heaven! (Okay. Thats cheesy. You dont have to say that.)How can you be assured of this gift?

Well, lets read the rest of John 3:16, which we started yesterday.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, thatwhoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Underline the wordbelieves.

Belief, or faith, is the answer. Faith in Jesus and what He did on the

cross. Faith in His resurrection. It is by faith and through Gods gracethat we receive the promise of eternal life, an eternal relationship with

Perfect Love.

And it is through this faith that we also receive the second primarypromise of the resurrection


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Promise #2A relationship with Perfect Love right NOW, here on earth.Promise #2A relationship with Perfect Love right NOW, here on earth.

Check out this verse below and write down its promise in your ownwords.

Ill give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. Ill remove the stoneheart from your body and replace it with a heart thats God-willed,not self-willed. Ill put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you todo what I tell you and live by my commands. (Ezekiel 36:2627MSG )

When we put our faith in Jesus, we hand him our nasty, sinful heart,

and He gives us a new hearta clean heart, forgiven by the cross. Andthis new heart desires to live like Jesus, make decisions like Jesus, love

like Jesus. And it is in this new heart that Jesus, Himself, dwells. Likewe just read in Ezekiel 36, Jesus, by His Spirit (otherwise known as the

Holy Spirit), moves inside of us, helping us live and love like He does.

This means we have an up-close-and-personal God living in us, talking

to us, listening to us.Its the sweetest love relationship you will ever know. And as you

get to know this roommate of your heart, living inside of you, you slowlystart to look more and more like Him.

Have you ever had a close friend rub off on you? You start to dress

like her, say things at the same time, even laugh alike. Similarly, the

more you spend time with Jesus, the more you allow Him to influence you. You begin to talk like Him, think like Him, act like Him, even love

like Him.


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This is important, so read these words carefully: if you havenever

put your faith in Jesus, then you do not have the capability of loving as you were created to love. And, more importantly, you are not living in

the big promises we are talking about todaythe promise of the best

relationship you will ever know, now and forever.So, this is the time to tell Jesus you trust in Him.

If you have already done this, lets do it again to remember its impor-

tance. The proclamation never gets old. Its a reminder of who we areand who we live for. Im going to do it with you. Its a good reminder for

me as well. Lets talk to God together.

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J esus, Im sorry. Im sorry for my sin. And I thank You for

esus, Im sorry. Im sorry for my sin. And I thank You for

the promise of forgiveness because of the cross.the promise of forgiveness because of the cross.

Right now I want to proclaim that I believe in You.Right now I want to proclaim that I believe in You.

I believe that You are the Son of God, that You died on theI believe that You are the Son of God, that You died on the

cross to take on all my sin, and that You defeated the grave socross to take on all my sin, and that You defeated the grave so

that those sins could be forgiven. So that I could have the promisethat those sins could be forgiven. So that I could have the promise

of an eternal relationship with You in heaven and a relationshipof an eternal relationship with You in heaven and a relationshipin which You live inside me here on earth.in which You live inside me here on earth.

Please give me a new heart. Live in me. I want to followPlease give me a new heart. Live in me. I want to follow

You, but I realize I cant do that alone. Its only through YourYou, but I realize I cant do that alone. Its only through Your

Spirit inside of me that I can love the way I was designed to love.Spirit inside of me that I can love the way I was designed to love.

Thank You for loving me. Help me grow in this relation-Thank You for loving me. Help me grow in this relation-ship with You. I want to know You more and Your love more.ship with You. I want to know You more and Your love more.

Amen. Amen.


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PrayPray

So lets thank God for His promises and ask Him to prepare our hearts

for the lessons to come.

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J esus, thank You for defeating the grave Because of Your

esus, thank You for defeating the grave! Because of Your

victory, my sin is conquered, I am forgiven, I have a new heartvictory, my sin is conquered, I am forgiven, I have a new heart

and I can be in relationship with You here on earth and foreverand I can be in relationship with You here on earth and forever

in heaven. Jesus, I want to know You more. Draw me closer toin heaven. Jesus, I want to know You more. Draw me closer to

You. Deepen my relationship with You. I ask that you wouldYou. Deepen my relationship with You. I ask that you would

prepare my heart for the lessons about love to come. And I ask prepare my heart for the lessons about love to come. And I ask

that these lessons would help me know You and Your love in athat these lessons would help me know You and Your love in away that changes me. Amen.way that changes me. Amen.

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Love is... Six Lessons on What Love Looks Like