7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16And 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 them. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear...
19We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4 selected verses)
Thoughts: Someone asked how could a supernatural God create a natural man with natural instincts. A better question might be how is it possible for human beings with all their faults, lusts, failures, fickleness (natural impulses) to love at all. Love is not simply a natural emotion. It is really hard to reason away love- even among the most selfish of us. When we seek to describev love, we often use religious and ethereal terms. The passage above reminds us that love comes from God. It is a gift and is a godly thing. God showed love (and not indifference/apathy) in that He came down for us. It is the most visible way God can show and make known invisible love for us.. Knowing that we are loved by God is not something we can prove- even in the coming of Jesus. We need God's Spirit to show us and help us acknowledge God's love. People naturally doubt and are skeptical of love- even a parent's love. It is a gift to realize that there is a God and that God knows and loves you as an individual It is it possible for a computer to know your name, your number, your accounts, and where you shop thousands of miles away... is it not possible that the most intelligent being in the universe knows you and is able to know even more about you?
God does not treat us as numbers but calls us by name. He knows our DNA, our background, more about us that we know ourselves, and He still loves us.
God, we believe, created us. Why would He do this? It was not that He had to do so- no one is greater or forceful to the Almighty. It was not that He wanted slaves. If so, we are not very good ones. Christians believe God is love in and of Himself. The Trinity is a plurality in love. But God created us in order to glorify Himself- showing His love to those made in His image- and who could also respond in love. Love elicits an object to love. Just as a loving person seeks other people out to show love, so God made us in order to give of Himself in love. It is no surprise, then that God came down for us and gave of Himself for us so that we might live. This love is from the God who made love (in the original sense) and made us in love. The Father's love is evident in creation and providence. The Spirit loves us by sustaining, illuminating, regenerating us. The Son showed His love on the cross- and making a way for us to respond in love to Him in eternity.
Out of response to God's love, let us love Him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves.
God does not treat us as numbers but calls us by name. He knows our DNA, our background, more about us that we know ourselves, and He still loves us.
God, we believe, created us. Why would He do this? It was not that He had to do so- no one is greater or forceful to the Almighty. It was not that He wanted slaves. If so, we are not very good ones. Christians believe God is love in and of Himself. The Trinity is a plurality in love. But God created us in order to glorify Himself- showing His love to those made in His image- and who could also respond in love. Love elicits an object to love. Just as a loving person seeks other people out to show love, so God made us in order to give of Himself in love. It is no surprise, then that God came down for us and gave of Himself for us so that we might live. This love is from the God who made love (in the original sense) and made us in love. The Father's love is evident in creation and providence. The Spirit loves us by sustaining, illuminating, regenerating us. The Son showed His love on the cross- and making a way for us to respond in love to Him in eternity.
Out of response to God's love, let us love Him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves.
Prayer: Lord, give me grace to love as you have first loved me. You came first. You made us in love and made us to love.
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