Fathered by God - Part 3: "Learning to Love"

1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love, but do we really believe that? Often, we fight God’s correction and redirection in our lives. We downplay and minimize our sin, trying to shift blame or judgement, and even so, God approaches us in love to correct us for our own benefit. For we cannot live life to the fullest, if we are living outside of His love. Key verses: John 15:9-13, Proverbs 21:2, Genesis 4:1-7, Hebrews 12:1-6, 1 Cor. 13:4-8, 11-12 Lifegroups Questions: 1. Jake said that we live in a world that is desperate for love and idealizes it. How do you see examples of that in the world around you? Have you believed some of the world’s ideas about what love looks like? How is the world’s definition of love different from God’s definition? 2. Do you agree that the best description of real love is that it is sacrificial? Why or why not? What relationships do you have that require sacrifice? Are those sacrifices worth it to you for that relationship? Why? 3. Proverbs 21:2 says that the Lord weighs the heart. Do you think that the way you judge and justify your sin is the same way that God weighs your heart? 4. In Genesis 4:1-7 Cain is confronted by God for his sin. How does Cain respond to the Lord? What similarities do you see in the way you react to God’s correction and the way Cain reacted? 5. Do you believe that the Father’s discipline in our lives is always motivated by and done in love? Why or why not? 6. What does the statement, “love is what He equates to maturity” mean to you? What do you equate to maturity? What are some other qualities that the world equates to maturity? How would your life look different if you equated LOVE to maturity?