{"id":52124,"date":"2020-02-17T00:13:04","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T06:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/?p=52124"},"modified":"2025-08-06T12:37:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T17:37:54","slug":"love-theme-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/love-theme-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Love: Theme of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jesus\u2019 words and life make it clear that love is always right. It is right for all people, for all places, and for all times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><i>Jesus replied, \u201c\u2018You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.\u2019 This is the first and greatest command\u00adment. A second is equally important: \u2018Love your neighbor as yourself All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.\u201d<\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew+22%3A37-40&amp;version=NIV\">Matthew 22:37-40<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_52173\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52173\" style=\"width: 374px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2020\/02\/blog_bridging-the-gap_love_love-theme-of-life.jpeg\"><img alt=\"Love: Theme of Life\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-52173 \" src=\"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2020\/02\/blog_bridging-the-gap_love_love-theme-of-life.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"374\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2020\/02\/blog_bridging-the-gap_love_love-theme-of-life.jpeg 1000w, https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2020\/02\/blog_bridging-the-gap_love_love-theme-of-life.jpeg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2020\/02\/blog_bridging-the-gap_love_love-theme-of-life.jpeg?resize=768,513 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 374px) 100vw, 374px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-52173\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bridging the Gap blog #hurthealedwhole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span class=\"s1\">For 50+ years, <a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/about-us\/joshs-bio\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span class=\"s2\">Josh McDowell<\/span><\/a> Ministry has been leading seekers into a deeper knowledge of God\u2019s truth and power. We offer you our accumulated knowledge and <a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/resources\/apologetics\/research\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span class=\"s2\">research<\/span><\/a> to help you find truth and encouragement to live a healthy and whole life in Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2><strong>Love: Theme of Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your life was depicted in a TV show what would it be like? <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Friends? The Brady Bunch? The Office?\u00a0<\/span><\/i><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jesus\u2019 entire life could be themed and titled <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Love.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It&#8217;s the essence of who He is.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That&#8217;s why Jesus commands us to love. The Bible records Jesus saying,<\/span><br \/>\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another&#8221;<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (<\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John+13%3A34-35&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John 13:34-35, NIV<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Love was the center of everything Jesus did here on earth. He left heaven because of love. He became a man, to experience our humanity, because of love. He filled His life with doing good, because of love. He willingly died for us because of His amazing love. And in resurrecting, He guaranteed that we get to spend eternity in His loving presence.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>How are you doing at loving like Jesus?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<blockquote><p><b>ACT:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The next time you hear a love song, remember the theme of Jesus\u2019 life: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">love<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><br \/>\n<i><b>PRAY: <\/b>&#8220;Father, I want to love you with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. And I want to love the people around me, too. This week help me to show love to_______________________, so that they see You in me, and I can tell them about Your love.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>\u00a0NEXT STEPS:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Join us in our February <a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/category\/bridging-the-gap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Bridging the Gap<\/em><\/a> posts as we explore the topic of love.<br \/>\n<em>Do we really know what &#8220;love&#8221; is, and how to show it?<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enjoy this daily devotion? <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/resources\/sign-up-for-daily-devotions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sign up today<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to start getting it in your inbox.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn how to begin a personal relationship with God, so that you learn about His love for you (and that person you can&#8217;t stand). Start <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/resources\/spiritual-growth\/know-god\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adapted from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/daily-devo\/your-so-called-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your So-Called Life<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, February 12, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/store.josh.org\/product\/josh-mcdowells-one-year-book-youth-devotions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One-Year Book of Josh McDowell\u2019s Youth Devotions<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, February 11. \u00a9 1996, 2003, 2019 Josh McDowell Ministry. All rights reserved. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Holy Bible<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission. <\/span><\/i><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jesus\u2019 words and life make it clear that love is always right. It is right for all people, for all places, and for all times.\u00a0 Jesus replied, \u201c\u2018You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.\u2019 This is the first and greatest command\u00adment. A second is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23327,"featured_media":52173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Jesus\u2019 words and life made it clear that love is always right. It is right for all people, for all places, and for all times. 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