--- title: "The Starting Point of Love | The Tree Church" url: https://thetree.church/blog/2025/11/10/the-starting-point-of-love description: "Take 2-3 minutes to quiet yourself and ask God to speak to you today through your devotional time.  Reading: 1 John 4:7–19Be sure to highlight or note anything that stands out to you while you read.  After reading the passage, take the next 5-10 minutes and spend time reflecting on what you read. You can write these things down in a journal or record them in your phone. Be attentive to both what y..." lang: en --- 721 N. Memorial Drive, Lancaster, OH 43130✦ Main Service: Sunday 9 & 11am✦ Movement Youth Sunday 5:30pm✦ Lancaster & Logan, Ohio✦ 721 N. Memorial Drive, Lancaster, OH 43130✦ Main Service: Sunday 9 & 11am✦ Movement Youth Sunday 5:30pm✦ Lancaster & Logan, Ohio✦ Blog (https://thetree.church/blog) Take 20: https://thetree.church/blog/category/take-20 # The Starting Point of Love November 10th, 2025 by Tree Church Everyday Image: The Starting Point of Love (https://base44.app/api/apps/6ac2bb755fa612c2228960ca/files/mp/public/6ac2bb755fa612c2228960ca/df074e323_18228690_1024x1024_2500.jpg) Take 2-3 minutes to quiet yourself and ask God to speak to you today through your devotional time. Reading: **1 John 4:7–19** Be sure to highlight or note anything that stands out to you while you read. After reading the passage, take the next 5-10 minutes and spend time reflecting on what you read. You can write these things down in a journal or record them in your phone. Be attentive to both what you highlighted in the passage and what is going on in your life. ** Everything begins with God’s love. Before we can give, serve, or obey, we must receive. His love is not reactive—it’s initiating, pursuing, and transforming. Many believers strive to do for God before they’ve learned to rest in His love. But until His love fills you, your efforts will always feel strained. Pause today and remember: your identity is not based on your performance but His affection. When you rest in His love, obedience becomes joyful and loving others becomes natural.** Now, take 10 minutes to seek God in prayer… 1. Begin your time in prayer by taking 1-3 minutes to sit in silence (You can take longer if you sense the Spirit already beginning to speak to you). 2. Pray through the things you sensed God speaking to you through the Scriptures or pray the following prayer: **Lord, teach me to rest in Your unconditional love. Help me stop striving and start receiving. Let Your love reshape my heart from the inside out.** 3. Close by taking 5 minutes to sit in silence, asking God if there is anything else He wants to speak to you today. **Take Action:** 1. Spend 10 minutes in silence, reflecting on the truth that God loves you as you are—not as you should be. 2. Write down three ways you’ve seen God’s love pursue you in the past year. Posted in Take 20 (https://thetree.church/blog/category/take-20)Following Jesus (https://thetree.church/blog/tag/following-jesus)Identity (https://thetree.church/blog/tag/identity)love (https://thetree.church/blog/tag/love)