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I like to take walks with my dog almost every day. One evening, I passed a\nhouse that had so many flowers of all different colors, and it just made me\nso happy! A woman was outside watering them, so I told her I loved all her\nbeautiful flowers. She responded with a big smile, Flowers are the best\nthing ever!\n.\nAs I continued walking, I thought about that. While flowers are definitely\none of my favorite things, I don\u2019t think they are the best thing ever. I\nthink the best thing ever is love. And generations of human history and\nstorytelling seem to agree. People throughout the ages have been willing to\ndo almost anything for love.\n.\nPondering this, I remembered a Bible verse: 1 John 4:16 says, God is\nlove. Isn\u2019t that a wonderful thought? The very thing we humans crave most\nof all is God Himself.\n.\nEvery loving interaction we have with other people is only an echo of the\nbeautiful love God has for us. Later on in the same passage, John writes,\nWe love because he [God] first loved us (1 John 4:19). Out of love, God\ncreated us. And even though humanity has rejected our Creator, He never\nstopped loving us.\n.\nAnd God\u2019s love is not some ethereal, untouchable idea. God embodied His\nlove for us by becoming human, living among us. Jesus came bodily to earth,\nand people could physically touch Him. And they could hurt Himbut only\nbecause He allowed it. Jesus was willing to be tortured and humiliated on\nthe cross, because that\u2019s what it took for our broken relationship with God\nto be healed. God\u2019s fullest expression of love for us was the ultimate\nsacrifice. Jesus, God the Son, gave His own life for us so that we could\nlive with Him forever.\n.\nAnd love is more powerful than death. After three days in a tomb, Jesus\nrose from the gravedefeating sin and death forever! Now, everyone who puts\ntheir trust in Jesus is reunited with God, the One our hearts crave above\nall others. He made us for relationship with Him, and our hearts are\nfinally satisfied when we are His once again. Hannah Howe\n.\n Do you agree that love is the best thing ever? Why or why not? \n.\n How can loving human relationships give us glimpses of God\u2019s love for us? \n.\nAnd so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. 1 John\n4:16a (NIV)\n\xa0\nRead Verses:\nPsalm 63:3; John 3:16-John 3:17; 1 John 4:7-1 John 4:19