“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
1 John 4:16 & 21 (NIV)
This love John writes about is almost incomprehensible. It begins in God. He is the source of it. It is only through a relationship with him that we have it. It is only by maintaining this relationship that we remain in this love. And John connects this love to our loving one another. He virtually insists that our love for one another is evidence of whether we have a true relationship with God.
It is so easy to love God. After all, He loved us first and gave his son to be our Savior. The Cross of Calvary is clear evidence of his love. It is easy to love someone who has sacrificed himself for us.
The challenge, however, is the “one another” among us. We enjoy those who are like us. We even like those who are likeable and lovable. We are tempted to ignore John’s teaching, however, when it forces us to consider our attitudes toward those among us who rub us the wrong way. The obnoxious ones. The contrary ones. The grubby ones. The snooty ones. The ignorant ones. Oh, we all know who they are.
Then John reminds us, he didn’t command us to love one another. It was Jesus who said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” St. John 13:34 (KJV). He also repeated this command two more times to the twelve (St. John 15:12 & 17). I believe Jesus must have meant it, don’t you? Perhaps we need to stop making excuses and truly allow God to love our brothers and sisters through us. After all, it is a sign that we are truly in God and that God is truly in us.
Dear Father, thank you for loving us when we did not love ourselves or anyone else. Forgive us for failing to love one another as you have loved us. Deliver us from partiality, and grant to us the grace of unqualified love. O Lord, empower us to constantly live this love. I pray this in the name of Jesus. AMEN
Be encouraged today by living in love,