Here to Love
In Here to Love, Chris Cipollone beautifully recaptures the centrality of Jesus’ greatest command. He shows that God is love—and then he shows that love is expressed through sacrifice and service.
In an especially helpful section, Cipollone draws on his experience as a pastor. When he asks people how they’re doing in their faith, they often respond by describing how consistent they’ve been with their Scripture reading. While even I appreciate this answer and would use it diagnostically, Cipollone encourages us to also examine our service to God (John 15:9–12). In this way, loving and serving God means acting upon his truth—obeying his commands. This is how we express our love for God.
Quantity and Quality
I was most convicted when Cipollone spoke about loving others. He distinguishes between merely associating with others and actually loving them—and clarifies that loving someone does not mean agreeing with them. It’s sad that people often have such low expectations of Christians that, when we simply associate with nonbelievers, they are pleasantly surprised. But this is a reflection of Jesus—and one I want to see more of in my own life.
I was most encouraged to read that, while we cannot meet God’s standards in terms of the quality and quantity of love we are to give others, Christians have the Holy Spirit, who helps us in our weakness. This highlighted my need to depend on the Spirit more and more, and it spurred me on to pray for His power in my life.
To Serve Like Our Savior
Cipollone gets practical in the final section of the book, using the language of “leaning into love”: through social justice, through work—by offering our time and energy—through disagreements—by turning to God in prayer—through family relationships—by pursuing them—and through our church family—by serving with humility.
Written with warmth and charm, this is a foundational book that will change how you see and live in the world. To love is to serve—and it is to be like Christ, our Savior.
I received a media copy of Here to Love (Amazon, WTS 5% off with code DIVEINDIGDEEP) and this is my honest review. Find more of my book reviews and follow Dive In, Dig Deep on Instagram - my account dedicated to Bibles and books to see the beauty of the Bible and the role of reading in the Christian life. To read all of my book reviews and to receive all of the free eBooks I find on the web, subscribe to my free newsletter.