by Warren Berkley
Listen carefully to 1 John 4:7-12:
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
The Holy Spirit makes it very clear. “God is…” and who God is must be reflected by His people—in our minds, speech, lives, actions, interactions, reactions, and worship.
- God is merciful and that mercy should be seen in us.
- God is faithful and so ought we to be faithful.
- God is good and He has called us to be reflectors of His goodness into His world.
- God is patient with us and expects us to be patient with others.
God should be imitated by His people—like father, like child.
“Love is from God,” John writes. Love is not from the world, a dictionary, movies, or the media. “Love is from God” and the most powerful evidence of His love is that He “sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
And where does this line of thought take us? “If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Like father, like child.