All Things By The Holy Spirit
Series: 1st Epistle of John
August 17, 2026
Pastor Mike
Drawing from 1 John 4:11-21, this sermon explores the nature of God's love and how believers are called to reflect that love in their daily lives and relationships. The Apostle John's teaching is framed around a clear if-then proposition- If we claim to live in God's love, we must love one another. Love is identified as the foundational fruit of the Spirit, without which the remaining fruits cannot be fully exercised. The sermon emphasizes that God's love, demonstrated through the sending of His Son as Savior, is the basis for our own capacity to love others. The apostolic witness grounds our assurance, while the indwelling Holy Spirit bears testimony to the truth of that witness in our hearts. Perfect love, the sermon argues, casts out fear, freeing believers from dread of judgment and empowering them to love even those who are difficult or hostile. The sermon concludes with a sobering challenge- Claiming to love God while failing to love the people around us is a contradiction that Scripture plainly calls out as falsehood.
Episode Notes
5-Day Bible Devotional
Day 1: The Origin of Love
Reading: 1 John 4:11-13; John 3:16; Galatians 5:22-23
Devotional: Love is not a feeling we conjure on our own. It flows from God himself, and it is the foundation upon which every other fruit of the Spirit is built. John makes clear that because God loved us with such extraordinary depth, we are called to reflect that love outward toward one another.
Without love as the root, joy, peace, patience, and all the rest cannot fully flourish. Ask yourself today: Is the love of God truly the starting point of how you treat the people around you, or have you been trying to bear fruit from a rootless branch?
Day 2: Love as Witness
Reading: 1 John 4:14-16; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 22:35-40
Devotional: The apostles were eyewitnesses to something the world had never seen and will never see again: God in human flesh, walking among men. Their testimony is the bedrock of our faith. The Holy Spirit now carries that witness into our hearts, confirming its truth. But witness is not only something spoken from a pulpit or written on a page.
It is lived out in how we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and how we love our neighbors as ourselves. Your life is a living testimony. What does it say to the people watching you today?
Day 3: Love That Casts Out Fear
Reading: 1 John 4:17-18; Romans 8:1; Galatians 5:1
Devotional: Fear and love cannot occupy the same space. Where perfect love takes hold, fear loses its grip. For the believer, this means that the dread of judgment, the weight of past failures, and the anxiety of an uncertain future are all swallowed up in the finished work of Christ on the cross.
Fear is the chain that keeps us from deeper faith and bolder love. God's love, made complete in us through the Holy Spirit, is the key that breaks that chain. Identify one fear you have been carrying. Surrender it today to the love of God that is greater than any guilt or dread.
Day 4: Love That Comes First
Reading: 1 John 4:19; Romans 5:8; Romans 12:1
Devotional: We did not initiate this relationship. God did. Long before any of us drew a first breath, He moved toward us in love. That reality should shake us to our core and drive us to our knees. Paul calls us in light of God's mercy to present ourselves as living sacrifices, describing it as our reasonable service.
Reasonable.- Given what God has done, our love and obedience are simply the fitting response. Spend time today meditating on the fact that God loved you first. Let that truth move from your mind into your chest, and let it change how you move through your day.
Day 5: Love Made Visible
Reading: 1 John 4:20-21; Luke 10:25-37; 1 John 4:7
Devotional: It is easy to say the words. It costs very little to sing them or to post them. But John draws a hard line: if we claim to love God whom we cannot see, and yet fail to love the brother or sister standing right in front of us, we are not telling the truth.
The Good Samaritan did not love in words. He loved in action, at personal cost, without expectation of return. The most direct path to honoring an invisible God is to care for His very visible children. Who in your life needs you to stop talking about love and start showing it?
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