1 John 1–5
“God Is Love”
How has your life been influenced by love? Why do we all need to feel love, especially God’s love? The Apostle John wrote epistles to Saints who were being misled by false teachings. He focused on God’s love for the Saints and how this love was manifested through the saving mission of Jesus Christ. This lesson is intended to help you feel God’s love for you.
God is …
In your study journal, write the phrase “God is …” Write down as many ways as you can think of to accurately complete this statement. For example, you could write “God is all-knowing” or “God is all-powerful.”
Read 1 John 4:8, 16, looking for ways John described God.
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What did you find?
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Why do you think God could be described as love?
One of God’s defining characteristics is His love for us. Think about the following questions:
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Do you feel that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you personally? Why or why not?
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Do you believe that They are aware of you and of your personal successes and struggles? Why or why not?
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What are ways They have shown or might show Their love for you?
As you study John’s epistle, look for truths that may help you answer these questions. Also ponder how understanding and feeling Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ’s love for you may make a difference in your life.
John’s teachings about God’s love
John likely wrote his epistles between AD 80 and AD 100 from Ephesus. Some Church members had adopted beliefs from a group called the Gnostics. This group taught that Jesus did not have a physical body and that salvation came through special knowledge rather than through faith in Christ. John refuted these false doctrines by teaching several important themes, including how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ showed Their perfect love through the Savior’s life, Atonement, and Resurrection (see 1 John 1:1–3; 3:16; 4:9–10).
1. Complete the following:
Read 1 John 4:19, and consider marking why we love God, according to John.
In your study journal, draw a large heart. In the middle of the heart, write “I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me because …” Leave enough room to write scripture references and phrases. Ponder how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ “first loved us.”
Read the following passages. Look for and mark phrases that show Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ’s love for you. Write those phrases along with their associated scripture references inside the heart.
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1 John 2:1–2 (Note: An advocate is someone who pleads for, comforts, and supports us. Propitiation means an atoning sacrifice that satisfies the justice of God.)
Review the phrases and references you marked and wrote down. Select the phrase that is most meaningful to you, and complete two or three of the following:
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Explain how the phrase you chose is meaningful to you.
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If possible, describe an experience in which you felt Heavenly Father’s or Jesus Christ’s love in that way. You could also share an example from the scriptures, a Church video, or a general conference talk. (To see an example, consider watching Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles’ talk “That I Might Draw All Men unto Me” from time code 7:32 to 9:14.)
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Describe how knowing the truth of this phrase has made, is making, or can make a difference in your life. Consider adding your personal testimony of God’s love.
Consider sharing this journal entry with friends and family or even on social media.
Ponder what you have learned as you read the following statement by Elder Robert C. Gay of the Seventy about the power of God’s love:
His love is greater than our fears, our wounds, our addictions, our doubts, our temptations, our sins, our broken families, our depression and anxieties, our chronic illness, our poverty, our abuse, our despair, and our loneliness. He wants all to know there is nothing and no one He is unable to heal and deliver to enduring joy.
(Robert C. Gay, “Taking upon Ourselves the Name of Jesus Christ,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 99)
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What is most important to you in this statement? Why?
Feeling God’s love
Imagine that someone you know didn’t think they felt the love of God or didn’t notice it very often. Think about what you have learned today, as well as your own personal experiences.
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What could you share with them that might help them feel the love of God?
In the lessons that follow, you will study John’s additional teaching of how we show our love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, including keeping Their commandments and loving one another.
Seek Heavenly Father’s help and listen and feel for promptings from Him through the Holy Ghost. Think of ways you can access or receive God’s love and how you can notice His love more often in your life. Ponder how consistently doing so could increase the joy you experience in your life.
Optional: Want to Learn More?
Where can I learn more about God’s love?
Consider studying President Russell M. Nelson’s February 2003 Ensign article titled “Divine Love” (pages 20–25) to find insights on God’s love.
How can recognizing and feeling God’s love influence our lives?
While serving as a member of the Seventy, Elder John H. Groberg explained:
When filled with God’s love, we can do and see and understand things that we could not otherwise do or see or understand. Filled with His love, we can endure pain, quell fear, forgive freely, avoid contention, renew strength, and bless and help others in ways surprising even to us.
Jesus Christ was filled with unfathomable love as He endured incomprehensible pain, cruelty, and injustice for us. Through His love for us, He rose above otherwise insurmountable barriers. His love knows no barriers. He invites us to follow Him and partake of His unlimited love so we too may rise above the pain and cruelty and injustice of this world and help and forgive and bless.
(John H. Groberg, “The Power of God’s Love,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2004, 11)