1 John 4.9: 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.
1 John 4.16: So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
1 John 4.19: We love because he first loved us.
John has a lot to say about love here. I would like to take this Valentine's Day to make some observations about John's view of true love. True love is founded in God's gift to humanity, his Son, Jesus Christ. True love is ours when we believe and accept that God loves us, abiding in him. True love is only possible because God loved us first.
I want to focus in briefly on this third concept. The ONLY thing that makes it possible for us to demonstrate True Love to anyone, including God, our Children, our Spouses, our Family...anyone, is God's love for us. Hopefully we can remember that today as we consider how to love those around us. God loved us and sent his son, and we are able to respond to him in love through turning to him for love and acceptance, as well as loving those around us selflessly.
1 John 4.16: So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
1 John 4.19: We love because he first loved us.
John has a lot to say about love here. I would like to take this Valentine's Day to make some observations about John's view of true love. True love is founded in God's gift to humanity, his Son, Jesus Christ. True love is ours when we believe and accept that God loves us, abiding in him. True love is only possible because God loved us first.
I want to focus in briefly on this third concept. The ONLY thing that makes it possible for us to demonstrate True Love to anyone, including God, our Children, our Spouses, our Family...anyone, is God's love for us. Hopefully we can remember that today as we consider how to love those around us. God loved us and sent his son, and we are able to respond to him in love through turning to him for love and acceptance, as well as loving those around us selflessly.