Grow in God’s Love

Learning to Receive His Love and Reflect It in the Way We Treat Others

We hear a lot about love, and most of us would agree that we want more of it in our lives. We want to be loved, appreciated, respected, and treated with kindness. There’s nothing wrong with that. God created us for relationships, and He knows how much they matter to us. But have we given enough attention to how we’re doing when it comes to loving others? It’s easy to recognize when somebody isn’t treating us right, but what about the times when our own attitudes, words, or behavior need some attention? Growing in God’s love requires us to look at more than what we’re receiving from people. It requires us to pay attention to what we’re giving. And that starts with understanding the love God has shown us.

Understand How Much God Loves You

One of the first things we need to settle in our hearts is that God’s love for us isn’t dependent on how well we’re doing. We don’t have to earn it, compete for it, or spend our lives trying to convince Him that we’re worthy of it. He knows us better than anybody, and He loves us anyway. 1 John 4:19 (NLT) says, “We love each other because he loved us first.” Think about that for a moment. God didn’t wait for us to get our act together before He demonstrated His love. He made the first move. Sometimes we have a difficult time receiving that kind of love because we’re so accustomed to relationships where affection has conditions attached to it. People may love us when we’re agreeable, when we’re doing something for them, or when we’re meeting their expectations. But God’s love isn’t like that. The more we understand what He has done for us through Jesus Christ, the less we’ll look to other people to determine our worth. And that’s important because we can’t expect people to fill a place in our hearts that belongs to God.

Allow God’s Love to Change the Way You Love Others

Now comes the part where we have to do something with what we’ve learned. Knowing that God loves us is wonderful, but His love should have an effect on how we treat people. Jesus said in John 13:34 (NLT), “Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” Notice that He didn’t leave us to figure out what love should look like. He pointed us to His own example. That gives us something to think about when we’re dealing with people who get on our nerves, disappoint us, or don’t see things the way we do. How quickly do we become impatient? What happens to our kindness when somebody hurts our feelings? Do we listen, or are we already preparing our response while the other person is talking? And let’s not forget how easy it is to justify our behavior when we believe somebody else started it. We may have a legitimate reason to be upset, but that doesn’t give us permission to treat people any kind of way. Ephesians 4:32 (NLT) tells us, “Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” That’s not always easy to put into practice, but it is part of the love that Christ calls us to demonstrate.

Let God’s Love Mature You

Growing in God’s love also means recognizing that there are areas where we still need to grow. Some of us have no problem showing kindness when people are kind to us, but what about when they’re difficult? Some of us can forgive as long as we don’t have to deal with the person again. And some of us are still learning that we can love somebody without agreeing with everything they do or allowing them to mistreat us. 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NLT) begins with these words: “Love is patient and kind.” We could spend quite a bit of time examining those two qualities alone.

Patience isn’t just about putting up with people until they finally do what we want. And kindness isn’t something we turn on and off depending on how somebody makes us feel. God wants these qualities to become part of who we are. He wants us to wear them like a second skin. That takes spiritual growth. It means being willing to examine our reactions, admit when we’re wrong, and stop making excuses for behavior that doesn’t reflect Christ. We also need wisdom. Loving people doesn’t mean ignoring harmful behavior or keeping ourselves in unhealthy situations. There are times when love requires forgiveness, and there are times when wisdom requires boundaries. We need God’s Word to help us understand the difference.

Growing in God’s love is something we will be working on throughout our lives. None of us has reached the point where there’s nothing left for God to teach us about loving people. We all have moments when our patience runs thin, our feelings get hurt, or somebody says something that makes us want to give them a piece of our minds. The question is, what do we do with those moments? Do we allow our feelings to take over, or do we give the Holy Spirit room to work on us? We cannot control how other people behave, but we can take responsibility for our own behavior. And we shouldn’t be so busy examining everybody else’s shortcomings that we overlook the work God wants to do in us. Let’s make it our business to grow in His love, not just in what we know about it, but in how we demonstrate it. After all, people should be able to see Christ in the way we treat them. ■

Continue Growing in Healthy Relationships

Relationships are an important part of our lives, and God has given us His Word to help us navigate them with wisdom, love, and understanding. Visit our Relationships page for more biblical teaching and practical guidance to help you grow in the relationships God has placed in your life.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Grow in God’s Love”, written by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2026. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.