1 John 4:11-14 - "We Also Ought to Love"

Today, Friday August 27 “We Also Ought to Love” 1 John 4:11-14 “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. 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 testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” In this fourth chapter of 1 John we are learning three things about God. What God is: He is Love. What God did for us: He sent His Son to die for us. And what God is present tense doing for us: He abides in us. For the second time now in 1 John we are told that “we ought to love one another.” To love out of duty is good and ok, but to love out of appreciation and a grateful heart is better. Did you notice the appeal John gives here? “Beloved, if God so loved us….” If we have experienced and receive God’s love through the death of His Son Jesus Christ, out of gratitude and appreciation we should share that love with others around us. If you really think about it, when you look at all the writings of the Apostle John in his five books in the New Testament, you will notice he really has two themes and both are about Jesus Christ. John first emphasis the Deity of Jesus Christ beginning in the very first chapter of the Gospel of John. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:1-14). Jesus would later say to Philip, “He that has seen me has seen the Father…” (John 14:9) Then John also emphases the death of Jesus Christ in his Gospel and Epistles. “God sent His Son to die and take away our sins…” You can’t separate the deity and death of Christ. If Jesus was not God in the flesh then his death was simply the death of another human being and has no eternal meaning. So that is why John is so focused on both the deity and death of Jesus. So the big question is then, how can we as selfish and sinful human beings really “love one another”? The answer is found here in this passage. First, God loved us and we can receive and experience this great love personally when we believe in His Son Jesus Christ! And secondly, and very crucial to understand, is now God abides in us and has given us His Holy Spirit. No one can see God but they can see us, and through us they can see and experience the love of God as we share it with them! Are you sharing God’s love with others today? God bless!