A Prayer to Help Us Love One Another
By Lynette Kittle
Bible Reading:
“We love because He first loved us” - 1 John 4:19
Read or Listen Below:
Love is pretty irresistible to people, and God loving us is where our ability to love first begins. Classic 1960s peace and love music like “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles and “What the World Needs Now Is Love” by Jackie DeShannon encouraged people to love one another, recognizing love can move hearts. Especially when love is extended to us, undeserved, where we haven’t done anything to attain it, it softens our hearts, teaching us how to love others.
Taking Love Up a Notch
Sadly, these days, though, it doesn’t seem like the world is noticing and saying things like, “Look, those Christians really love one another; they must be true disciples of Jesus.” As believers in Jesus, if we aren’t hearing this, we most likely need to step up our loving one another a few notches. 1 John 4:16 explains, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”
Is Love Even Possible Without God?
We may wonder, is it even possible to have the love of God in us and not love others? As Christians, we are called to love each other. It’s a sign to the world that we belong to Him and are His disciples by how we love one another.
Yet, in our current culture, it seems some Christians have forgotten that loving others is probably the most authentic evidence of a heart that loves God. If we aren’t loving others, it’s revealing the true condition of our hearts, along with our relationship, or lack of relationship, with God. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8).
Love Began With God
As followers of Jesus Christ, our most important relationships begin with love, beginning with our salvation, where God loved us first and reached out to us with His love. Romans 5:8 explains, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”As well, John 3:16 describes, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” With Salvation, we receive God’s love and His call to love one another, including spouse, neighbor, and even enemies; God’s instruction to love others is fervent.
Love Stretches Us
As in Mark 12:31, God calls us to love our neighbor, which is more far-reaching than just loving the person next door to us. It includes loving our spouse, children, parents, co-workers, those in our community, our nation, and worldwide.
Even further reach for most of us is God calling us to love our enemies, those who have hurt us in countless ways, rejected us and influenced others to reject us, cheated on us and cheated us out of promotions and benefits, and betrayed us on various levels, including relationships, confidence, and more.
Still, God isn’t allowing us any spiritual support to withhold love from those who hate us and persecute us, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:44, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’”
In these situations, we want to consider what love really consists of and looks like. Is it truly love when it seems right, makes us feel good, and we want to offer it, or is it really love when we choose to offer it despite our feelings, doesn’t give us warm, cozy feelings? We don’t want to offer it, but we do because we love God.
Let’s Pray:
Dear Father, We are deeply grateful to You for reaching out and extending Your love to us first. Thank you for teaching us how to love one another by loving and teaching us how to love. All that we know about love comes from You because You are love. Today, and each coming day, we ask You to strengthen us to reach out further than what is comfortable or convenient for us in love. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/alex_skp
Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.
Related Resource: Starting 2026 with Intention: Confidence, Diligence, and God’s Direction
As we begin a brand-new year, I want to help you slow down and listen for God’s invitation in your life. In this episode, we kick off our One Word 2026 series — a simple, prayerful way to reflect on where you’ve been and discern how God may be inviting you to grow in the year ahead.
I introduce the heart behind choosing a spiritual “one word,” not as a goal to achieve, but as a posture to receive. We explore two of the six words I’ll be offering this month — confidence and diligence — and look at how Scripture invites us to grow, not by relying on our own strength, but by trusting God’s faithfulness over time.
This episode is part of our How to Study the Bible Podcast, a show that brings life back to reading the Bible and helps you understand even the hardest parts of Scripture. If this episode helps you know and love God more, be sure to subscribe to the How to Study the Bible Podcast on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!