16: Focus on the Four Loves
Key Passage
And over all these virtues put on love…
Colossians 3:14
The Bible teaches us that Christ-like love is the greatest indicator of maturity in God’s Kingdom.
From the 20 Practices of Disciplemakers:
There can be no simpler, more profound set of values to instill in someone's heart than the four loves we learn about in the Bible:
How God loves me
How I love God
How we love each other (as a result of His love)
How we are called to love those who don't know Jesus.
Teaching someone about God's love for them settles identity issues, sets them on a firm foundation for life and relationships, and gives health to all ministry activities.
Helping people to respond to God's love by loving Him with all of their being makes their lives beautiful and infectious to those in and out of the church.
Discipling people to love brothers and sisters in the church is a platform for shining the light of Jesus to the world. Turning disciples' hearts towards the lost is helping them to live a life like Jesus' own life, reaching the world for Christ. These four loves are the truest dashboard of health in a disciple or a church. It's the easiest way to keep a healthy perspective on what God has called us to and to know if we are walking it out in the right way.