“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.”
LOVE FOR NEIGHBOR & MUTUAL LOVE: A MOMENT TO REMEMBER
After reflecting on God Is Love in September plus The Will of God & The Word of Life in October, the EMBER Project brings us to a natural next step in November: Love One Another.
John doesn't tell us simply to feel love for one another. He gives us an invitation: Let us love one another.
Love becomes something we choose, something we offer, and something we receive.
The Heart Sharing model begins with prayer, an invocation of the Holy Spirit, Scripture, and a moment of silence.
Then think of a real and specific person or situation from your life.
Perhaps someone has been difficult to understand.
Someone who sees the world differently than you do.
Someone who has hurt you.
Someone who needs your patience.
Someone who may simply need to know that they are seen and valued.
Now bring that person to mind. And remember: “Let us love one another, because love is of God.”
Ask yourself: “What would love look like in this situation?”
Maybe love means listening rather than correcting.
Maybe it means forgiving.
Maybe it means reaching out.
Maybe it means setting aside your own expectations and simply being present.
Sometimes loving our neighbor means doing something for them. And sometimes it means allowing them to love us.
Love Is Mutual
One of the beautiful truths about Christian love is that it is not a one-way exchange. We are called to love—but we are also called to receive love. We may think we are going somewhere to serve, only to discover that God has placed people in our lives who will teach us, encourage us, welcome us, and love us in return.
Sometimes the person we thought we were helping becomes the person who changes us.
Sometimes we arrive believing we have something to give and leave realizing we have received far more than we expected.
That is mutual love.
And What Happened?
When we choose to love another person, something happens.
Perhaps a relationship grows stronger.
A barrier begins to come down.
Someone who felt alone feels remembered.
A difficult relationship becomes a little easier.
Or perhaps we discover something about ourselves.
We become more patient.
More compassionate.
More grateful.
More aware of God's presence in another person.
And sometimes we realize: God was loving me through them all along.
LOVE GOES BOTH WAYS
Three little girls wrap their arms around one of our VBS missionaries in a joyful group hug—a simple moment that says more than words ever could. We may arrive in Honduras thinking about what we can give—our time, our talents, our energy, & our love.
But sometimes, in the simplest moments, God reminds us that we have come to receive, too. Izabella Vallejo may have been the one who came to Honduras to give—but in that moment, those three little girls were giving something back. Their joy, affection, & trust became a gift of their own.
We thought we were bringing God's love to them.
And then, in a simple embrace, they reminded us that God's love was being given to us, too.
Because love is not something we simply give away.
Love is something we share—and in sharing it, we encounter God.
LOVE IN HONDURAS
Our Honduras Mission has taught us this lesson again and again. We travel to Honduras with gifts, supplies, medical skills, teaching materials, construction expertise, and a desire to serve.
But something unexpected happens when we enter into genuine relationship. We receive.
A child grabs our hand.
A family welcomes us into their home.
A Honduran mother shares her story.
A patient offers a smile of gratitude.
A woman at Ladies' Night shares laughter, conversation, and friendship.
A community welcomes us not simply as visitors, but as brothers and sisters.
And suddenly the mission becomes more than something we do for others. It becomes something we experience together.
WHEN LOVE CROSSES A BOUNDARY
This is what makes mutual love so powerful.
We may speak different languages.
We may come from different cultures.
We may have very different life experiences.
But love creates a place where those differences don't have to divide us.
We can sit together.
Laugh together.
Pray together.
Learn from one another.
Serve one another.
And discover that we are not so different after all.
We are God's children, called to love one another.
BRINGING IT HOME
We don't have to travel to Honduras to practice mutual love. The neighbor God is asking you to love may live next door.
It may be someone sitting beside you at church.
A co-worker.
A family member.
A friend who is struggling.
Or someone you encounter only briefly.
This month, ask: Who has God placed in front of me?
Then ask: How can I love this person—and how might I allow God to love me through them?
Because Christian love is not simply something we give away. It is something we receive.
And when we give and receive that love, we discover the truth behind John's words: “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God.”
YOUR NOVEMBER CHALLENGE
This month, look for one intentional opportunity to love your neighbor.
Listen.
Encourage.
Forgive.
Serve.
Welcome.
Or simply be present.
Then pause and notice what happens.
You may begin the moment thinking you are the one giving love.
But perhaps you'll discover something more:
Love didn't just pass through you. It found its way back to you.
And that is the beautiful surprise of mutual love — when we open our hearts to love another, we may discover that God was loving us through them all along.
MISSIONARY RELECTION - LOVE FOR NEIGHBOR
“One of the things I’ve learned through mission work is that I usually arrive thinking about what I’m going to give—my time, my skills, my energy, or whatever I can bring to help. But sometimes, the person I think I’m there to help ends up giving something to me.
I remember spending time with a Honduran family during one of our mission trips. There wasn’t anything extraordinary about the moment. We were simply talking, laughing, and sharing time together.
But when I walked away, I realized how much that simple encounter had given me. I had gone there thinking I was bringing something to them. Instead, they had encouraged me, welcomed me, and reminded me that love doesn’t depend on how much we have or what we can give. That experience has stayed with me.
It makes me think differently about Jesus’ command to love our neighbor. Maybe sometimes we are so focused on being the person who serves that we forget to allow someone else to love us, too.
“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God.” — 1 John 4:7
Mission has taught me that love isn’t a one-way street. Sometimes I am the one giving. Sometimes I am the one receiving. And sometimes, in the middle of an ordinary conversation or a simple moment together, I realize that God is loving me through the very person I thought I was there to serve.”