Be Strong Courageous in Community: The Courage to Love at All

Be Strong and Courageous: The Courage to Love at All
John 13:34-35; 1 John 4:7-12
Elder Philip Thompson
 
For Your Heart Today
There moments when love feels natural… and moments when it feels costly. This week, we were invited to reflect on love not just as a feeling, but as a calling and a choice. Jesus’ command to “love one another” was not spoken in an easy moment; it came in the shadow of betrayal, grief, and uncertainty. Which means the love we are called to live is not dependent on circumstances—it is rooted in who God is. We are not just people who receive love—we are people being formed by it. And yet, many of us carry wounds, so we build walls and form protective shells—not out of hardness, but out of hurt. But God’s love does something different. It doesn’t ignore our wounds—it transforms them. What once marked us with pain can become a place of healing… even a place where love begins to flow outward. So the invitation is not simply to try harder to love; it is to remain in God’s love long enough that it reshapes how we love. Because love is not just something we do—it becomes the visible mark of who we are becoming.
 
Takeaways

• Love is both a command and a choice. We are invited—not forced—to live into it.
• God defines love. We don’t shape it—He does, through Christ.
• Our wounds can be transformed. What hurt us can become a place of healing for others.
• Love is the visible evidence of God’s work in us.

Breath Prayer
Inhale: You have loved me…
Exhale: Teach me to love.

Be Strong and Courageous: The Courage to Love at All (Sermon Summary)
John 13:34-35; 1 John 4:7-12
Elder Philip launched the next movement in our Be Strong and Courageous journey by inviting us to consider what it means to live with courage in community—specifically, the courage to love at all.

He reminded us that relationships are central to our lives, yet they are often the very places where we experience both our deepest blessing and our deepest pain. Because of this, love is not easy—it requires courage.

Drawing from Jesus’ command in the Gospel of John and the reflections in 1 John, the message unfolded around three key realities of love:

1. The Command to Love
Love is not optional for those who follow Jesus—it is a command. But it is also more than obligation; it is a choice. Jesus no longer calls us servants, but friends, and as friends, we are invited to choose love freely. Yet that choice can feel overwhelming, especially when fear, uncertainty, or past hurt leads us toward inaction. In those moments, we are reminded that not choosing to love is still a choice—and often one shaped by fear.

2. The Standard and Source of Love
The love we are called to live out is not defined by culture, personality, or preference—it is defined by God Himself. God is love. This means the love we are invited into carries His very nature: it is eternal, sacrificial, life-giving, and complete. It is a love that was fully revealed in Christ, who gave His life for us. Because of this, our natural ability to love is not enough—we need a supernatural response, empowered by the Spirit.

3. The Visible Mark of Love
God’s love is not meant to remain internal—it is meant to be seen and experienced through us. Yet many of us carry wounds from relationships that cause us to build walls and protective shells. These defenses can keep others out—and sometimes even keep God at a distance.

But through God’s grace, those very wounds can be transformed.

What once marked us with pain can become a testimony of healing—a visible sign of God’s love at work in us. Rather than becoming closed off like the Dead Sea, we are called to be like the Sea of Galilee—receiving love and allowing it to flow outward, bringing life to others.

Elder Philip also reminded us that love is not passive—it is costly. It required Christ’s life, and it calls us to a willingness to give of ourselves. This kind of love goes against our natural instinct to protect ourselves, which is why it requires courage rooted in our relationship with God.
The message concluded with two reflective questions:

• Where and against whom have we built walls or protective shells?
• What is needed for us to become people in whom God’s love is made complete?

Ultimately, we were reminded that God chooses to dwell in us—and make His love complete—through the way we love one another.