Reflections

The apostle John wrote, “The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Many people who claim Christ or God as least, use the idea they love others as proof of their relationship with God and the correctness of their beliefs. Unfortunately, they have misread this verse and ignored the ones that follow. They correctly say, “God is love.” They incorrectly deduce then that love is God. The idea that because we have love we are know the author of love is erroneous. The love, that God is, is a divine love, one where He chooses to love us. The very next verse give the nature of that love He has for us. It reads, “By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God sent his one and only Son into the world so we may live through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but the he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)  It would seem clear we cannot love the way God loves. We can make no sacrifice large enough, deep enough, personal enough to merit his love. What is also clear is God loves us, not because we deserve or earn it, but because He chooses to love us. He instigated the love relationship at creation, and then rescued it when we wandered off into sin, doing our own thing, making gods of ourselves or things around us, created things. God rescued us by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the sacrifice through which we could again experience the benefit of His love. He loves us and therefore we are called to love one another. It is not because we gin up love, but rather we extend the love God has shown us to others around us. It is not a generic love for anybody or everybody, but a specific love for those who are His or are in need of His love. Don’t confuse loving with a hollow, human sourced love. Rather allow His love to find you through your acceptance of the atoning sacrifice of Christ for your sins. Then share that good news in love with others needing to know God’s saving love.