We were created to love God with all we have and with all we are; “we love because He loves us first” (1 John 4:19).

Since the creation in Genesis, God gave us the ability to steward His land as an act of worship. He wants all of our minds, hearts, and bodies to love, honor, and submit to Him: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5).

God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross because he loves us so much. He sought restoration and a new life for those willing to come to him. “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” (John 3:16). We are here to love people, to serve them, to show them the way, and intercede for them to our Father.

We were not called to reject people but rather to draw them near his Kingdom. In fact, He said “Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” (Matthew 12:31).

Jesus was the perfect example of what community looks like. He cultivated relationships and invested in people at all different socioeconomic levels. He told us not to conform to a plain lifestyle but challenged us to live as a disciple.

Being a disciple means following Jesus’ steps, which involves not only following His commands but loving Him and reproducing His love everywhere we go. “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it” (Mark 16:20).

God told us how important it is to honor our families and to take care of them. We strive to be people who love their own family, children who show love and respect to parents, and husbands and wives who are willing to pay the price to build up and honor their own household and who actively live to show the love of God. “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15).

We are people who are willing to invest spiritually in our own families, who strive to become parents who understand the value of guiding their children and keeping them protected in prayer, who would live to show them how loving the Father is so important even as they grow, they will not turn away from God.