What does it really mean to live as someone deeply loved by God? Many of us try to build our lives on identities that are constantly shifting. As we continue exploring a powerful spiritual letter from Jesus’ beloved disciple John, we’ll be invited to root our identity in being God’s children—so that His love can shape how we see ourselves and how we love others.




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Discussion Guide







To view the Leader Guide for this week, click here.



To view a .docx version of this guide, click here.







Begin your time together with prayer 







Introduction 



Take some time to discuss how your action step of asking God to renew one unhealthy aspect of your life has been going since last week. 



This week we will be discussing our identity as God’s children and how knowing that can help us love others well. 







Connect  




* What’s something simple that never fails to make you feel appreciated? 



* Who’s the easiest person in your life to get along with, and what makes them so easy to be around? 








Opening 



It can be easy to talk about love, but it’s more difficult to live it out, especially when we forget where real love comes from. The way we love others is deeply connected to how we understand God’s love for us. As we start to see ourselves how God sees us, as it can change how we view and treat others because when we see ourselves as God’s children, it changes our motivations for why we want to love others in the first place. 







This leads us to our main idea for this week 



We can love people well as we grasp God’s love for us 







Unpack 



Read each set of verses out loud as a group, making observations as you go. Afterward discuss each of the connected questions before moving to the next set of verses: 



Read  



1 John 3:1-2 



Romans 8:14-16 




* What stands out to you from these verses? 



* What does it mean to be a child of God? 

* Why do you think it matters that we know that we are children of God?  



* How often do you think about being a child of God in your daily life? How does this make you live differently? 





* We often try to find our identity in things like work, family, past mistakes, or achievements. What are some specific aspects of your life that try to compete for your sense of who you are? 

* If you saw yourself first as God’s child, how would that shape the way you love other people? 






Read 



John 13:33-35 



1 John 4:7-12s