“We love because he first loved us.”

The 2026 theme for the Northwestern Ohio Synod is the Way of Love, which is the Way of Jesus. In Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus shares the Greatest Commandment. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Many of us remember learning this beautiful teaching of Jesus in Sunday School or catechism class.  Many of us have committed these words to memory. But learning and quoting the words of love is not the same as living the Way of Love.

The love that Jesus calls us to is unconditional. This is a love that is not based on our worth or our ability to reciprocate. This is a love that shows up in deeds and not simply words. “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action” (1 John 3:18). The way of love is enduring. St. Paul reminds us, “Love never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:8a). Finally, the way of love is transformative, and calls us to reflect God’s love with and for the neighbor, the community, and the world. This is a love that when mobilized has the power to change the world.

The way of love always begins with God. Here is God’s self-giving love, fully revealed in Jesus, poured into us by the Holy Spirit, and lived out in our lives for the sake of the other. As we read in the 2026 Way of Love Memory Verse, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). 1 John provides a beautiful glimpse into the Way of Love, which is a love that we are called to share with the world.