October 14 – 1 John 4:7-21
Dear Lord God, we come before You in worship and praise, for You are the orchestrator of Your creation. Be with us as we spend time with You, and guide us to what You want to show us.
No wonder John is called “the apostle of love”! He is returning to his theme here with gusto! How can we possibly be God’s children – He who not only loves but truly IS love in its purest form – if we don’t love others? At the very least, as Christians with His Spirit within us, hating a brother in Christ is going to tear us up on the insides as the Spirit convicts us of sin. John reminds us of what Jesus did for us despite our frequent failures to love and obey Him. This realization that we were loved that much should spur us on to love others. Notice that John also helps us discern false prophets by telling us what the truth is about Christ’s sacrificial death and what the result should be for all who have received His love and marveled at it. Hoo boy. It’s a tall order, isn’t it? Some people are much easier to love than others. We might need to do some serious praying, asking God to help us love the unlovely among us. I find that praying for a difficult person, asking God to move in their lives and turn them more and more toward Him, is the best way for me to love them. And it feels so good to want God’s best for them as I pray! And truly, by praying they draw nearer to God, I know they’ll be easier to love anyway!
My verse: 1 John 4:16, “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.”
My response: Over and over, Lord God, You whisper Your love for me. How I thank You for the multiple times in Scripture where You say it again. And again. I receive that love today. I want to remain in Your love. To abide with You always. I do put my trust in You – the One who loves me.
What’s next?
As the Spirit leads, share what He has laid on your heart in the comment section below. Then join us again tomorrow for the next commentary.
