7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 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. 10 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. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
John returns to the subject of loving one another. Love originates from God, from being born of God as a Christian and knowing God in abiding fellowship. The absence of love is an indication that a person does not know God, not that they are not born of God, but they are not in fellowship with God. We do not love because we are born again, we love because we are both born again and abiding. It is from intimacy with God that we are able to produce a Christ-like love for others. Early in the letter, John said that God is light (1 John 1:5-10) which spoke of his holiness and that no sin originates from Him. Now John tells us that God is love. Love is not God. Just because we see love between two people doesn’t mean it is a holy love. Much of what the world exhibits as love is not the love of God and is perverted by the world. God defines love and it is seen most clearly in His sending Jesus into the world, not because we initiated anything (Rom 5:8) but because He sent Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation means that Jesus satisfied the wrath of God by doing what was needed to save us from our sins. If God loved us this much, then we should love one another, not out of compulsion (though that might be a good place to start) but out of appreciation for what God has done for us. No one has seen God but if we love each other with a love originating from God, then His love is perfected in us, it is made complete in a full and deep experience of that love.
Many have pointed to “God is love” as an excuse to do what they want to do without condemnation. But we cannot bring a perverted view of love into that phrase. God defines love and His definition of love is all about selflessness not selfishness. How much has your definition of love been influenced by TV, the internet, other media, and even what you want? How does that change when you compare it to the selfless love of God sending Jesus and that love shown in how Jesus lived?
Major Stories of the Bible Reading Plan
Joseph and Potiphar : Genesis 39