Jesus did not come to live a "nice" life. "Nice" is not going to change the world. The Bible calls us to live extreme lives.2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us that "God loves a person who gives cheerfully" - extreme generosity.
Matthew 5:42 tells us to "give to those who ask, and don't turn away from those who want to borrow" - extreme service.
Matthew 18:22 tells us that we should forgive "seventy times seven" times - extreme forgiveness.
All of these will help us to love with an extreme love. Some of the passages we have seen in the last 20 days call us to this extreme love. For this is the love that we have received - "for God so loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
Spend some time thinking about what extreme love might look like for you. And ask God to help you understand His extreme love and help you love others with an extreme love today.
For the kids:
God doesn't call us to be good - He calls us to be like Jesus. We can't do this by ourselves. Share some of the verses above as a family and think of real life examples of how you could respond with extreme generosity, service, forgiveness and love. Take time to thank God for his extreme love - "for God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
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