This Month’s Theme:
Made Complete in His Love
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:11-12
Artist’s Reflection
God’s love sustains us in many ways–gently, like a field breeze; fiercely, like a fire; steadily, like a flywheel, holding the pace of our days in place.
With His great love He calls us to love one another. Not because we are capable, but because He who lives in us first loved with a complete love.
Loving others is not always the easiest thing to do. We find it difficult to love when we do not understand. Sometimes we find it hard to believe that loving will make a difference.
The challenge of loving others is close to the heart of Jesus, who knew so much more and yet loved anyway. Love is in His very nature, and having Him within us changes the tune of our hearts and gives our love wings to take flight. How sweetly and boldly, then, can we go forth, trailing the loving melody of our Maker.
As we wait to glimpse the perfection of His work, we are invited to work alongside Him. For me, that looks like being content and eager wherever I am placed, tilling the earth however hard it may look, and sowing the seeds of His love, inching closer to others in a tenderness that I know is not my own.
—Chelsea S
Join in the Conversation
We’ve been made complete in God’s love (1 John 4:11-12), and because He’s poured His love into our hearts, we can extend it to those around us (hard as it may be at times) by giving generously of our time, showing others they’re important to us, and opening up our homes to them. These little acts of love open the eyes of the world to the God of love who lives in us.
But sometimes, loving each other can hurt. Maybe our actions were not reciprocated, our acts of kindness go unnoticed, or we realise . . . actually, we’ve been made use of!
“That was a waste of our time and effort,” we think.
Yes, putting ourselves out there can be risky, yet God asks this of us as an act of obedience.
And so, dear readers, we want to hear what God has taught you about loving others. How can we continue loving one another when it’s hard and when it hurts? What does it mean to love each other in a way that reflects a loving God living in us?
If you’d like to share your thoughts with us, read our writer’s guidelines and get typing! 🙂
Topics to Explore
Experiencing God’s love
Experiencing God’s love even when our life is going wrong/we’ve sinned, ways to discover God’s love, seeking love in the wrong places, being confident of God’s love (even if we can’t love ourselves).
Giving God’s love
Loving the toxic people in our lives, when loving one another hurts, learning (and speaking) someone’s love language, intentionality in our relationships with one another.
Living out God’s love
Forgiving those who have hurt/humiliated us, loving without expecting anything back, receiving God’s perfect love, living harmoniously with one another (parents, flatmates).
Join in the Fun
If you’re more of a visual person, you can be a part of the YMI community by contributing or tagging your artworks with our hashtag #ymitoday. Check out our creatives’ guidelines and send us your artworks.
We know you love your colours, so do we! Every two months, we set a colour theme that we’ll work around. Use the colour palette below to increase your chances of getting featured!
