Loved to Love

Devotional from Pastor Tim Chalas

At the heart of the gospel is love—God’s love for us, in us, and through us. Jesus summed up the greatest commandment simply: love God and love others. But this isn’t a task to strive for—it’s the very expression of who we are in Him. Religion often frames love as a requirement to earn God’s favor, yet grace reveals love as a result of already having His favor.

The good news is this: God has made His home in you, and He poured His love into your heart (Rom. 5:5). His command to love is not about performance, but about participation—letting Christ in you love through you. When Scripture tells us to love, it’s not pulling from an empty well. It’s drawing from the endless reservoir of the Holy Spirit within.

In Christ, love isn’t a demand placed on us—it’s the divine nature placed within us. When we see God’s commands as descriptions of our new nature, rather than just prescriptions for our effort, they stop being a burden, and we begin to experience His blessings. You are no longer trying to become loving—you are love-filled, because He Himself lives in you. The believer isn’t being asked to produce something foreign, but to release what is already true: you are, by nature, now a lover, because the Lover lives in you.

When God says, “Love one another,” He isn’t issuing a warning or threat; He’s pointing us to our design. He’s saying, “Be who I made you.” We don’t love to get His blessing—we love because we’ve already been blessed beyond measure in Jesus.

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“We love, because He first loved us.” —1 John 4:19 

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