The Fruit of the Spirit is Cruciform Love

For Pentecost Sunday 2010: When the Spirit pours out the love of God into the hearts of His people, that love fills them until they overflow with love back to God and out to their neighbors, the nations, and the next generation.  When the rivers of living water surge from the soul of one who …

Five Ways The Bible Speaks Of God’s Love

I draw your attention to five distinguishable ways the Bible speaks of the love of God. This is not an exhaustive list, but it is heuristically useful. (1) The peculiar love of the Father for the Son, and of the Son for the Father. John’s Gospel is especially rich in this theme. Twice we are …

Should We Tell GenMe God Unconditionally Loves Them?

In a generation that believes they are self-important, special, and unique, telling them God loves them unconditionally may be akin to telling water that it is wet.  Should we tell GenMe that God unconditionally loves them?   How does one communicate the truth of God's love without feeding the narcissism of the age?  David Powlison makes a …

When Being Nice Is Not Loving

My friend Elizabeth tells a story about how "being nice" kept her from loving God and loving others: I’ll give one example of a time I failed miserably at love because of my niceness. The VBS director asked me to carry on my four-year tradition of leading recreation. We live in Pensacola, Florida, and having …