“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
1 John 4:10

Monday, June 29, 2009
1 John 4:7-12
Love Based on His Love
The foundational idea of this passage is that God is the inventor and originator of selfless, character-based love (Greek, “agape”). It follows, then, that whenever this kind of love is present in someone’s life, it is evidence that he belongs to God; conversely, anyone who does not love others in this way shows that she does not know God. Even though John points to these outcomes as evidence, he still exhorts us to act in love. So it follows that it must be possible to belong to God and not act in love in a given situation, because it is inconceivable, based on the gospel of grace, that we could make ourselves belong to God through simply choosing to love others. So the question before us today is this: As followers of Christ, are we truly living in the kind of love he makes possible for us, or are we mostly choosing to take a “lower road”, one of loving those who love us, are attractive to us, or to whom we are obligated to give our love. Furthermore, if we are not growing at all in the expression of this agape love in our lives, what does that say about the genuineness of our love relationship with God? Find a way to love in a greater way today, and thereby live out your identity as a child of God!

Prayer Starter:
Lord, help me truly express my relationship with you through loving others. When it is most difficult to love, may that be the time your love is most evident within me. Give me a situation in which to demonstrate agape love today.