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Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. — Matthew 22:37-39 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Some things are just not complicated to understand. However, that doesn't mean putting them into practice is easy for me. Jesus was clear in what he said. Living for God can be boiled down to two principles: Loving God with everything I am and have. Loving others and treating them as I would like to be treated. Those principles are certainly not too hard to understand. It's the living of them that is our challenge. So, let's not just understand these two principles of love; let's live them out in our daily lives: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ... Love your neighbor as yourself. My Prayer... Dear Father, the one true and living God, please accept the work of my hands, the...

We love because he first loved us. — 1 John 4:19 Thoughts on Today's Verse... It's all very simple. God is love ( 1 John 4:7-8 ). He is love's origin, example, and architect. I love because God loved me first. I know how to love because he has demonstrated it in Jesus. I can love because he made me in his likeness and to share his character, and because God pours his love into my heart through the Holy Spirit ( Romans 5:5 ). He is the fountain, the motivation, and the pinnacle of love. I love because God loves - first, last, and always. My Prayer... God of comfort, God of love, thank you for comforting me with your love. Just as a child learns from parents how to do so many things, I want to learn to love as you do: sacrificially, selflessly, and submissively so that others may know that they do not have to earn your love, only receive it and share it with others. In the name of Jesus, your perfect example of love, I pray. Amen. The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse ...

Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. — Ephesians 2:4-5 Thoughts on Today's Verse... God is rich in mercy and generous with grace! Isn't that wonderful for us? I don't know about you, but I sure know I have failures, shortcomings, sins, and transgressions. Without God’s mercy, I would be lost in my sins ( Romans 3:23-25 ). Without his grace, I would be cut off from the life God longs for me to have ( Romans 5:6-11 ). God is rich in mercy and generous with grace! He acted on our behalf when he sent Jesus to show us his love ( 1 John 4:9-10 ). Now, because of his rich mercy and generous grace, we are dead to that old sinful self, and our lives are now tied to Jesus' glorious future ( Colossians 2:12 , 3:1-4 ). "God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ" ! My Prayer... Father of all grace and mercy, thank you. Thank you fo...

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. — 1 John 4:18 Thoughts on Today's Verse... What is there to fear since nothing can separate us from the love God has for us in Christ Jesus? ( Romans 8:38-39 ) What is there to fear since God has poured his Spirit into our hearts to transform, strengthen, and make us holy? ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 ; Galatians 5:22-23 ; 1 Corinthians 6:11 ) What is there to fear since God sent his Son to die to redeem us and present us to God as holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation" ? ( Colossians 1:21-22 ) As the apostle Paul declared: What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ( Romans 8:32 ) We are God's children. He loves us. His love for us i...

The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. — Romans 13:9-10 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Wouldn't it be great if we didn't have to have laws to keep people in line! That's the point behind Paul's message here. Treat our neighbors as we would like to be treated. Love them as we want to be loved. If we do that, then we're not going to do anything that would hurt them, much less violate a command of God's law that would hurt them. My Prayer... Loving Father, you are God who gave Moses the Law on tablets of stone. Please write your character and will on my heart ( Proverbs 3:3 ; Jeremiah 31:33 ) that I might be a living testimony of your righteousness and grace toward all peo...

He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. — Proverbs 17:9 Thoughts on Today's Verse... You've probably heard this poisonous statement many times: "It's just a little harmless gossip." The Wise Teacher reminds us that gossip is neither little nor harmless. Sharing someone else's stumble, offense, failure, or flaws separates friends and causes horrible damage. The consequences of such gossip are severe, and its damage is often lasting and devastating, especially to relationships. Instead, it is much better to be a peacemaker and an offense-mender, someone who covers over an offense with grace, forgiveness, and love. As Jesus said: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God ( Matthew 5:9 ). A peacemaker is one who covers over an offense and promotes love and peace. Let that be said of us! Video Commentary... ToGather Worship Guide | More ToGather Videos My Prayer... Father of ...