4 In Faith

Finding True Love Bible Reading Plan

Love suffers long and is kind… it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

During December, I shared with all of you a Christmas Bible Reading Plan that I prayed would help keep our eyes more on Jesus during one of the busiest times of the year. Before I reveal what this has inspired me to start doing, I want to thank all of you who shared it with your friends and family and those who were kind enough to let me know how much they enjoyed it. It is such a blessing and brings me so much joy when I hear and see that something I shared has helped you in some small way in your walk with the Lord.

Since everyone seemed to love the Christmas Bible Reading Plan, I decided to start making monthly Bible reading plans. These plans will not surround certain books of the Bible but rather specific topics. Take this month’s reading plan for example. It’s all about love: what true love is, how it changes us, how we are to love one another, and the type of love God has for every one of us.

My prayer for these mini topical studies is that they would ignite a fire within all of our hearts. That God would use them to reveal or remind us of how rich, comprehensive, and true His Word is and how awe-inspiring and assuring He is. I also pray that once you finish reading the daily passages that you wouldn’t close your Bible, but rather that the Lord would draw you even deeper into His Word and that you would continue reading the surrounding Scriptures. I hope that this sweet time spent with the Lord would assure us of who our God is and that we would be filled with hope and joyful expectation of what our future holds, both in this life and in the next!


How To Get The Most Out Of Your Bible Reading Plan

  1. Set aside at least 15 minutes a day to read the daily readings outlined in the Finding True Love Bible Reading Plan (scroll down to access the printable plan). Before you start reading, ask the Lord to speak to you, draw you closer to Him, and for Him to reveal Himself to you through His Word.
  2. Below the Finding True Love Bible Reading Plan printout, you’ll find summaries of all four sections of the reading plan: Love Demonstrated, Love Transformed, Love For One Another, and Love Everlasting. Although you’re free to read all four summaries at once, I recommend reading one section overview at a time before you begin reading that section’s Scriptures.
  3. Make sure to download and follow along with the 28-day Finding True Love Scripture Writing Plan.
  4. Listen to the Finding True Love Playlist here.

Download The 28 Day Scripture Writing Plan To Get:

28 Different Scriptures: after completing each day’s readings, the Scripture Writing Plan will present you with a different verse that corresponds to the passage you just finished reading. Each of these verses complements and reinforces what you will read and learn from the corresponding Finding True Love Bible Reading Plan.

Outlined Journal Pages: designed to organize the verses and to give you enough space to write down each verse (the act of writing it down will help your mind store the verse in your long-term memory vs. your short-term memory).

4 Handpicked Scriptures: Scriptures that encompass and summarize each section of the Bible Reading Plan are included so that you can easily print them out, meditate on, and memorize throughout each part of the study.

A FREE 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-7 ART PRINTABLE:

Scripture Wallpapers: Four specially designed screenshots of each of the four handpicked Scriptures made especially for your cell phone! Now, every time you look at your phone, you will be reminded of what the Lord is teaching you and will be encouraged by the words of God.


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No need to sign up. Just head over to the Subscriber Only Free Resources Library to access the Finding True Love Scripture Writing Plan + exclusive content created just for subscribers (including the FREE 30+ page Becoming More Beautiful In Christ Workbook).


The Bible Reading Plan:

Click here for the printable version of the Finding True Love Bible Reading Plan


Love Demonstrated (Days 1-7)

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

On day 1, we start by learning exactly what love is. It’s not a feeling or even a word, but an action. Before we loved God, He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us…for you…for me…for everyone. When we were living entirely for ourselves, not worrying about what God wanted for our lives or what glorified Him, He had already sacrificed Jesus for us.

Think about that for a moment and let it sink in: JESUS DIED FOR THE WORLD.

That means everyone. Even the ones who actively oppose Him, profane His name, and refute His existence today. He died for them as much as He died for you, and as much as He died for the ones who plotted against him and subsequently murdered Him. He died for the ones who mocked Him as He hung on the cross dying and even for the ones who drove the nails into His hands. He died for all so that all could have the opportunity to accept Him and love Him back. This is the most beautiful truth in all of the world.

On days 2 and 3, we’ll read of what Christ went through both physically and mentally when He demonstrated His love for us on the cross. As we will learn in the book of Matthew (on day 2), before Jesus experienced any physical pain or shame, he suffered great emotional pain in the Garden of Gethsemane before His betrayal. We will see how sorrowful and deeply distressed He was as He prayed to the Father to let this cup pass from Him.

Jesus knew what was before Him. That although He had never sinned, He would have to become sin and thus experience separation from God while hanging on the cross to save us from the penalty of our sins.

Separation from God was something Jesus had never experienced before and something none of us can even begin to fathom. Because of Christ’s obedience and sacrifice on that beautiful yet horrific day, as Christians, we will never have to experience what Jesus experienced while hanging on the cross—true separation from God. Take a moment to meditate on what Christ did for you and thank Him for His obedience, love, and sacrifice.

During day 4, we will see that even though Christ internally struggled the night before His crucifixion, He freely gave His life to save us. No one took it from Him. In the book of John, Christ Himself reassures us that He is the good shepherd who freely laid down His life for His sheep (us). Then, on day 5, we will see precisely why, or rather who, He went through all that pain and suffering for. We will also read about the inheritance God has given to all of us through His Son, Jesus. This inheritance is worth more than all the gold and diamonds in the world!

Then, on day 6, we will be reassured that nothing could ever separate us from our God and the love that He has freely bestowed upon us. We will close this first section of the Finding True Love Bible Reading Plan with a loving prayer that Christ prayed for all believers, including you and me! It’s a beautiful look into the heart of our Lord and Savior and the love He has for us.

By the end of this first week, I pray that you would know exactly how much you are loved by our Father in heaven and that love came down from heaven in the form of Jesus for you! I also pray that if there are any ladies out there who don’t have a Valentine this year, that they would not be sad or feel left out of this month of love.

Smile and be filled with joy!

The most wonderful/beautiful man who ever walked this earth not only loves you but died for you and wants to spend eternity with you.

That’s wayyyyyy better than any flowers or chocolates!

I pray that these past seven days have strengthened your understanding of the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love for you. And that the next time any of us find ourselves questioning God’s love for us, that we would know that the answer lies at the cross:

The devil loves to tell us that God doesn’t love us when we mess up, but that is a lie! Read more about the lies the devil loves to tell + the truths you can rest in HERE.


Love Transformed (Days 8-14)

Therefore be imitators of God as dearly loved children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Ephesians 5:1-2

Over the next 7 days, we will focus on how God’s love has the power to transform people from the inside out when they confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9). On day 8, we start by reading about what salvation is, how one can obtain it, and how it changes us. When we accept the free gift of salvation and eternal life in Christ Jesus, we become new creations in Christ. We enter from death into life and are no longer children of wrath but children of God.

God’s love not only has the power to save us but also to transform our hearts, thoughts, and behaviors.

On days 9 + 10, we will see how the love of Christ should compel us to shift our thinking and perspectives from the temporal to the eternal and from self to Christ. Since Christ died for all, as believers, we should no longer live for ourselves, but for Jesus, who died for us and rose again (2 Corinthians 5:15). Do you remember Jesus’ prayer that we read on day 7? It complements the readings for days 9 + 10 beautifully: “Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as we are one, I in them and You in Me, so that they may be brought to complete unity” (John 17:21-23).

When we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts, we become crucified with Christ, and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God lives within us (Galatians 2:20). The more we seek the Lord in prayer, worship, and the Word, the more our hearts and perspectives will transform and align with God’s mind and heart.

What grieves God’s heart will bring sorrow to our hearts.

What God finds offensive, we will want no part of. 

What God rejoices in, we will desire to do.

Days 11, 12, and 13 are all about how God’s love and Christ’s example should shape our outlook on life and how we choose to live our lives. As new creations in Christ, we are new women in God, called to live for His glory while fervently and completely trusting His Word in every aspect of our lives. We are to let go and turn from anything in our lives that isn’t bringing God glory while discovering and embracing what is acceptable to the Lord (Ephesians 5:10).

At the end of the Love Demonstrated readings (Days 1-7), we learned what true love is: “It is rare indeed for anyone to die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8). On day 14 of this week’s readings, we’ll learn how to truly reciprocate this love to God: “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him” (John 14:21).

God showed His love for us on the cross. We don’t show our love to God by saying, “I love you,” but rather by living in obedience to His commandments.

It is so humbling and overwhelming to think that Jesus loves us so much that He gave up His life for us. Because of this great sacrifice, we should be motivated and moved by His love to give our entire lives as offerings and sacrifices to Him. When we do, God’s love will transform us from the inside out, and everyone will know that we are truly walking in the way of love, which is to walk in the way of Christ.


Love For One Another (Days 15-21)

“A new commandment I give to you: that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples; if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

Before we begin our readings surrounding how we are to love one another, it’s important to understand that loving someone doesn’t mean accepting everything they do as right or excusing their sins. I wanted to point this out because, on day 15, we start by reading one of the most popular and misunderstood Scriptures that people love to “quote” in an effort to excuse their sins: “God is love(1 John 4:16).

God is love not because He accepts everything that we choose to do or will turn a blind eye to the sins we commit. God is love because He died to pay the price for every sin that we’ve committed against Him: “ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10). Moreover, 1 John 4:16 doesn’t just say, “God is love,” the verse goes on to say, “and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

To abide in love is to abide in God.

To abide in God is to follow His Word, obey His commandments, and live our lives accordingly.

On day 16, we will see precisely why the two greatest commandments are, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:28-31). Then, on day 17, the apostle Paul will point out that no matter what spiritual gifts we may have or what good deeds we may do, if we don’t have love for one another, it all means nothing.

Start Listening To The Finding True Love Playlist HERE

We will then spend days 18 + 19 in the book of Romans, focusing on the liberty we have in Christ as believers and the outworkings of love we are to show toward one another. The first half of Romans chapter 14 shines a light on the fact that we can sometimes think more highly of ourselves than we ought to and that we also have the tendency to judge other believers’ personal convictions (even though we have no right to).

To illustrate this teaching, let’s look at a topic that many Christians are divided on, Halloween:

One Christian may feel perfectly fine with letting their children dress up and go trick or treating while thinking that the Christians who don’t let their children celebrate Halloween are too extreme or a little crazy.

Another Christian chooses to have nothing to do with Halloween while looking down on Christians who do want to celebrate Halloween.

Which one is doing the right thing as a Christian?

Neither! Under the law of liberty, both are free to follow their own personal convictions, but neither has the right to judge the other concerning those convictions.

As we enter the second half of Romans 14, there is a Scripture I want to highlight: “It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles is offended or is made weak” (Romans 14:21). Even though we have liberty in Christ concerning certain aspects of our lives, we need to always remember that our actions can have far-reaching effects on those around us.

For example, for years, whenever my husband and I would go out to a nice dinner, I always enjoyed having a glass of red wine. I could slowly sip my glass of wine throughout dinner without becoming drunk. However, the Lord slowly started to convict my heart that even though I wasn’t getting drunk, that I could still be causing someone else around me to stumble.

Substance abuse is running rampant throughout our society, and usually, if someone is struggling with it, they don’t openly discuss it with others.

What if someone in that restaurant is struggling with alcohol abuse, and seeing my drink would cause him or her to stumble. Yes, there may be others drinking in that same restaurant, but I’m not responsible for their actions. I never want to be a stumbling block for anyone. I only want to point people to Christ. As Christians, we are called to put the needs of others above ourselves: “we then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself” (Romans 15:1-3).

Truly loving another person means putting their needs above our own.

We also must die to ourselves (our flesh) so that we can live fully in and for Christ. 

Do you remember those bracelets that had the letters W.W.J.D? (“What Would Jesus Do?”) printed on them? To this day, I still find myself reciting those four words when I’m placed in certain situations in life. On day 20, we will read a passage of Scripture that will add another dimension to this great reminder. Now, not only do I ask myself, “what would Jesus do?” but also, “what would I do if that were Jesus?”. What would I do if Jesus was the one standing on the corner begging for food? What would I do if Jesus was lonely and sick? What would I do if Jesus needed clothing?

When we love others through our actions, it is not only God pouring out His love for others through us by the power of the Holy Spirit, but also the outworking of our love for God.

One of the many great things about being a follower of Christ is knowing what the purpose of life is: to know God and make Christ known. We are also blessed to know that love is the motivating factor behind both of these beautiful happenings. Christ loved us before we loved Him, and we have to love one another to point others to Christ. It will be important to remember this as we read the Scriptures for day 21, which will exhort us to love even our enemies.

I pray that every single one of us would radiate Christ’s love to everyone we come in contact with—family, friends, co-workers, strangers, and even those who may hate us—and that the Lord would open doors for us to tell others about His great love for them. And let’s pray for one another, that we would have boldness and courage, and that whenever we open our mouths to proclaim Christ’s love, that God would give us the words to proclaim the gospel fearlessly.


Love Everlasting (Days 22-28)

The Lords’s lovingkindesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22

I can think of no better place to start reading about God’s everlasting love than in Luke 16. So often, believers and nonbelievers alike believe that they have done too many terrible things for God to love them or that they have been forgiven too many times to be forgiven once more. The three parables we will read paint a beautiful picture of the Lord’s heart toward us when we come to Him in repentance. As you read these three parables, know that Jesus is pictured as the shepherd looking for his lost sheep, the woman looking for her lost coin, and the father welcoming his son back home with open arms. We are the lost sheep, the missing coin, and the prodigal son. As you walk away from day 22, I pray that you would know that you can never do anything that would cause God to stop loving you. Whenever we have strayed from Him, He has always been waiting to receive us back into the fold of Christ, with open and loving arms.

On day 23, we will be reassured that Christ can never and will never forget or forsake us as His children. Then, on day 24, we’ll read a Psalm of David that tells us just how intimately God knows every single one of us. He knows every terrible thought we’ve ever had, every careless word we’ve ever said, and every sin we’ve ever committed. He knows everything there is to know about us, and yet, He still loves us. Nothing we could ever do, think, or say would cause God to stop loving us. Psalm 139 also invalidates the lie that God is too busy to think or worry about what is going on in our individual lives: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand” (Psalm 139:17-18).

When we reach day 25, we will reread Romans 8:31-39, which emphasizes God’s everlasting love for His children no matter the season of life: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?… Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:35,37).

Life is full of ups and downs, and whether you love life at the moment or are in the middle of a heartbreak: GOD LOVES YOU AND IS BY YOUR SIDE!

It is not our circumstances that determine whether God loves us or not because He has already proved His love for us on the cross. On day 26, we will be reassured and reminded that God is working everything out for good (even the difficult things) for those who love Him (Romans 8:28).

Have you ever wondered whether the things that happen to us are accidents, coincidences, or God? You can find the answer here.

I wanted to close the Finding True Love Bible Reading Plan by doing two things:

  1. Blessing the Lord with a song of praise in our hearts for everything He is and everything He has and will do for us because of His great love. On day 27, Psalm 103 does just that (as does the Phil Wickham song below).
  2. With a reminder of what our future holds (on day 28). When Christ said, “It is finished” on the cross, the final sacrifice for sin was given, and because of this, we never have to experience separation from God or eternal death. However, because we live in a sinful world, we will still experience sorrow, disappointments, and pain in this life. BUT, there will come a day when Christ will say, “It is done!” and we will never again experience the pain that sin causes. Christ will be our God, we will be His daughters, and we will get to experience what true love is for all eternity! Amen? Amen!

How are you feeling at this moment? I pray, loved, because that’s exactly how I’m feeling! How can any of us not feel loved when we’ve spent the last 28 days reading the most beautiful love letter ever written? I’m so amazed by our God and the fact that His Word is so alive and active. No matter how many times I read the Bible, the Lord always has something new for me. Through this reading plan, He has deepened my understanding of who He is and what He expects from all of us.

Did it do the same for you?

I pray that it did!

I also pray that all of us would never doubt God’s love for us ever again. That we would know that He demonstrated His love for us on the cross and that like Him, His love is eternal. I pray that His love would overwhelm us to love not only Him but others more deeply. That we would submit our will to His will and dedicate our lives to knowing Him deeper and to sharing the good news to hurting people in this world that God loves them and that they can be saved by the blood of Christ.

I’ve truly loved focusing on God’s love this month with all of you, and I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for all of us in the coming days, months, and years! Remember to walk in love toward everyone God places in your path this month (and every month after), and don’t forget to share the Finding True Love Bible Reading Plan with your friends and family on Facebook and Instagram (with the #organicchristianliving) so that you can spread God’s love to all the people in your life!


A Few Reminders/A Little Encouragement

This reading plan is by no means meant to replace your own study of the Bible, take the place of your women’s Bible study, or even church. If you want a deep, meaningful relationship with God, you need to be in His Word for more than 5-10 minutes a day. These mini topical studies are meant to be added to your current study of God’s Word, not a replacement.

Also, don’t give up or feel bad if you fall behind a day or two of the reading schedule. You’ll quickly be able to catch up and get back on track by bundling two days together. You can even group every two days and make this a 14-day reading plan instead of a 28 day one.


Ready to start a new Bible Reading Plan? Get the 20 day God Is Faithful Bible Reading Plan here.

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4 Comments

  • Reply
    BARBARA NOEMI DOTE MARIN
    June 24, 2018 at 11:15 am

    how can I have access to the reading plan?

    • Reply
      kristy
      June 26, 2018 at 9:43 am

      Hi Barbara, you actually already have access to the Finding True Love Bible Reading Plan. To save it, simply right click the Bible Reading Plan (that is on this page) and click “Save Image As”. If you want to access the Scripture Writing Plan that goes with the Bible Reading Plan, all you need to do is sign up for it and it will be sent straight to your inbox. The sign-up form is right above the Bible Reading Plan on this page. Or, if you are already a subscriber, you can access all past and future Scripture Writing Plans in the Subscriber Only Free Resource Library here: https://www.organicchristianliving.com/freeresourcesforsubscribers/

      I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂

  • Reply
    Cathy
    January 22, 2018 at 9:54 am

    Hello, I signed up for this month, will I be getting the work sheets for every bible challenge or just for this month?? Thanks so much!

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