Drawing from the final chapter of the Gospel of John, this sermon challenges the cultural lie that real love should always feel easy. Using the restoration of Peter as its central narrative, the sermon argues that genuine love is not passive sentiment but active, sacrificial work. Three core movements frame the message: love works for (you labor on behalf of what you love), love works through (Christ's love empowers believers from within), and love works better (love outperforms guilt, shame, and religious rule-keeping as a motivator). The sermon calls believers away from merely liking God toward truly loving Him, and warns against reducing faith to a checklist of religious obligations. Ultimately, the message is a call to return to first love, echoing Christ's warning to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2, and his repeated question to Peter:  ...