Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

1 John 4:11-21

If we were to give God the universal name of Love we would tie all the world’s religions together, because that is what they all have in common. Jesus told us that God must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. The fact that we are to worship Him as "the way, the truth, and the life" sets Him above all other gods.

Love is not a name for God; love is God’s nature. He expressed it to the fullest extent when He sent His Son to die for our sins. Only when we accept God’s sacrifice for us will we know that love of the one true God that can bind people together.

God is love – but love is not God.

Our Daily Bread – August 5, 2004