We
Love Because He First Loved Us
Dear friends, let us love one
another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and
knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This
is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the
world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but
that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear
friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has
ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made
complete in us.
This is how we know that we
live in him and he in us: He has given us of his
Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the
Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God
lives in them and they in God. And 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. This is how love
is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is
no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with
punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved
us.
1 John
4:7-19
As Jesus beloved disciple John
grew older, his teaching became increasingly narrowed, focusing entirely on the
love of God in his three letters.
God’s love is certainly at the
heart of the mission and message of Jesus. In his earliest gospel account John
recorded the words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
God’s love is so strong,
available, and stabilizing that we can confidently step into each day knowing
that the good things are gifts from His hand and the challenges can be faced in
His strength. For all of life, His love is what matters most.
God’s
love stands when all else is fallen.
Our
Daily Bread – September 9, 2016