BY THIS WE KNOW LOVE!

THE WORDS OF TRUTH DAILY DEVOTIONAL
Dec 23rd, 2025

𝕋𝕀𝕋𝕃𝔼:
BY THIS WE KNOW LOVE!

KEY VERSE

“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.”
— 1 John 3:16 (NKJV)

DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE

The world often defines love by feelings, attraction, convenience, or what one can gain.

But Scripture defines love by sacrifice, action, and self-giving.

Apostle John does not say “by this we feel love” or “by this we imagine love.”

He says:

“By this we KNOW love.”

Love is not abstract. Love is revealed at the Cross.

God’s love was not proven by words alone but by the laying down of His life through Jesus Christ.

True love always moves toward sacrifice, obedience, humility, and redemption.

• Love bleeds.
• Love gives.
• Love stays.

If we want to understand love, we must look at Calvary, where love took nails, wore thorns, carried shame, and conquered death.

BIBLICAL OBJECTIVES OF GOD’S LOVE

1. To Reveal God’s Nature – God is love (1 John 4:8).
2. To Reconcile Humanity to God – Love bridges the gap (2 Corinthians 5:18–19).
3. To Redeem Us from Sin – Love paid the price (Ephesians 1:7).
4. To Adopt Us as Children – Love brings belonging (Romans 8:15).
5. To Transform Our Hearts – Love changes us from within (Ezekiel 36:26).
6. To Teach Us How to Love Others – Love becomes a pattern (John 13:34).
7. To Break Fear and Condemnation – Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).
8. To Produce Holiness – Love leads to obedience (John 14:15).
9. To Empower Sacrificial Living – Love compels service (2 Corinthians 5:14).
10. To Secure Eternal Life – Love gives everlasting hope (John 3:16).

CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD’S LOVE

1. Sacrificial – Christ laid down His life (1 John 3:16).
2. Unconditional – While we were sinners (Romans 5:8).
3. Initiating – He loved us first (1 John 4:19).
4. Redemptive – Love rescues and restores (Titus 3:4–5).
5. Patient – God is long-suffering (2 Peter 3:9).
6. Forgiving – Love covers sin (Psalm 103:12).
7. Faithful – Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8).
8. Transformational – Makes all things new (2 Corinthians 5:17).
9. Active – Love is demonstrated, not declared (James 2:17).
10. Eternal – Love never ends (Romans 8:38–39).

ILLUSTRATIONS

1. The Lifeguard’s Choice

A lifeguard sees two people drowning, one is calm, the other thrashing wildly.

The lifeguard swims past the calm swimmer to rescue the frantic one first, risking his own life.

Lesson:

Love always moves toward the helpless, the broken, and the lost. 

Christ did not save us because we were good swimmers, He saved us because we were sinking.

2. The Cross-Marked Door

During a storm, a family marks their door with a sign given by the rescuer.

The storm passes over only those marked.

Lesson:

Love is not sentimental, it is substitutionary. 

The Cross is the mark that saves, not human effort.

CALL TO REPENTANCE

Have you taken God’s love lightly?

Have you received His sacrifice without reflecting His love to others?

Have you grown cold, unforgiving, or selfish while claiming to know love?

God calls us to repent of loveless Christianity.

DEEP REPENTANCE

Lord, forgive me for accepting Your love without allowing it to change how I live, forgive, give, and serve.

Break every hardness and selfishness in me.

PRAYER OF REPENTANCE

Father of love,

I confess that I have not fully understood nor lived out Your love. 

I repent of selfishness, bitterness, pride, and indifference. 

Cleanse my heart. 

Let the love shown at the Cross be reborn in me. 

Teach me to love as Christ loved, sacrificially and sincerely.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

REFLECTION SCRIPTURES

1. 1 John 3:16 – Love is proven by sacrifice.
2. John 15:13 – The greatest love lays down life.
3. Romans 5:8 – Love meets us in sin.
4. 1 John 4:9–10 – Love is revealed through Christ.
5. Ephesians 3:17–19 – Love surpasses knowledge.
6. Isaiah 53:5 – Love endured suffering for healing.
7. John 13:34–35 – Love identifies true disciples.
8. Colossians 3:14 – Love binds all virtues.
9. 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 – Love defines godly character.
10. Romans 8:38–39 – Love is unbreakable and eternal.

HYMN

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Isaac Watts (1707)

1. When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.

2. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the death of Christ, my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them through his blood.

3. See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?

4. Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

TODAY’S CHALLENGE

Demonstrate Christlike love today, through forgiveness, generosity, or sacrificial service, without expecting anything in return.

DEEP REFLECTION

If love required blood, humility, and death for Christ, why do we think it will cost us nothing?

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

You are deeply loved.

You are worth the Cross.

Nothing in your past disqualifies you from the love of God.

ETERNITY IN VIEW

The Cross was not only for today, it secured your forever.

Live with heaven in mind and love as one redeemed for eternity.

CLOSING DECLARATION

By this I know love!

Christ gave Himself for me.

I will live, forgive, and love through the power of His sacrifice.

His love defines me.

PRAYER POINTS

1. Thank You for revealing true love at the Cross, in the name of Jesus.
2. Cleanse my heart from selfish love, in the name of Jesus.
3. Let the love of Christ dwell richly in me, in the name of Jesus.
4. Heal wounds that block love in my heart, in the name of Jesus.
5. Empower me to love sacrificially, in the name of Jesus.
6. Break bitterness and unforgiveness in me, in the name of Jesus.
7. Teach me to love my enemies, in the name of Jesus.
8. Let Your love flow through my actions, in the name of Jesus.
9. Make me a vessel of divine love, in the name of Jesus.
10. Let Your love draw many to Christ through me, in the name of Jesus.

PROPHETIC DECLARATION

I declare:

The love of God defines my life. 

I am rooted and grounded in love. 

Fear, hatred, and bitterness have no place in me. 

I walk in the power of sacrificial love, reflecting Christ to my world. 

By this I know love, Jesus gave Himself for me, and I give myself for Him.

In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.