God is Love | 1 John pt. 7

In the book of 1 John, it is evident that John likes to discuss the topic of love. In fact, this is the third post I've written concerning loving each other in this series. Despite the similarities, each passage tackles the subject slightly differently: In 1 John 2:7-11, John explains what our love signifies (learn more in my post titled The New Commandment). He then tells us why and how we should love each other in 1 John 3:11-24 (I wrote another post about this passage called Love One Another). Finally, in this section, John discusses the relationship between God and love.

Read 1 John 4:7-21

(v. 7-10) Loving others indicates our intimate relationship with God because He is both the source and definition of love. Since God is love, those who do not love others have not yet fully experienced the great sacrifice He made so that we could live. He never stopped loving us after all the times we've rejected Him, gone our own way, and became attached to the world's evils, but instead sacrificed His only Son so that we could live through His death. We did not earn this gift of grace, but God gave it to us freely because He loved us even when we didn't love Him.

(v. 11-12) If we are God's children, we must imitate in our own lives the love He demonstrated. Our love for each other is a signification that God abides within us and that we have fully experienced His love for ourselves. When we can express this love to others, it shows that His love in us has reached maturity and has been made complete. No one has physically seen God, but our love for each other allows us to see his presence within us.

(v. 13-15) John witnessed Jesus' coming into the world to be our Savior and testifies to the truth of this event. However, none of us in this present day have encountered Jesus in his human form, so it takes a step in faith to believe in Him and what He did for us on the cross. Whoever trusts Jesus as their Savior despite not being an eyewitness to His time on earth, God will abide in them. To these people, God gifts His Holy Spirit, Who's guidance is evidence that God abides in our hearts.

(v. 16-18) By trusting in Christ as our Savior, we acknowledge His love for us by proclaiming that He saved us from our sins. If we want to follow Him, we must obey His command to love others. Those who abide in love also abide in God because He is the very definition of love, and showing His love to others makes the love within us complete. By adopting this characteristic, we can be confident for the day of judgment because we know we've done as God commanded us to do. On the other hand, fearing judgment day is a sign that our love has not yet reached perfection. If our love had been perfected, any fear of punishment would be cast out because we know that God loved us enough to give us grace.

(v. 19-21) The only reason we can love is because God first loved us. We can easily declare our love for Christ because we refer to a personal relationship no one can see. If we truly loved Him, that love would overflow into our relationships with others. Therefore, it is contradictory to claim we love God when this love is not evident in the other areas of our lives. How can we say we love an invisible God when we can't even show love in face-to-face interactions? For these reasons, God commands that whoever loves Him must also demonstrate His love to others.

In short, loving others is a sign that we understand and have experienced the love that God has for us through the great sacrifice He made. If we realize this, we know the obligation we have to love one another. Choosing to take on this characteristic in ourselves is evidence that God abides in us because God Himself is love. We will also have confidence for judgment day, knowing we strived to obey His crucial command to love each other.

Take a moment to evaluate if you've been faithful to show God's love to others in recent times. Do not be discouraged if you tend to fall short in this area because loving by our own strength is impossible. Remember that God is the source of love, and His love is infinite and never runs out. I encourage you to pray to Him to fill you with His love so you have an endless reserve to give out. If God abides in you, your love for others will be an overflow of the love He has shown you.

- Lena

Source:

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/1-john/1-john-4.cfm