New Year Obligations Part 3: God is Love! (1 John Ch. 4)
This part is possibly the most important piece I will write right now. As I pen this post, I’m going through some challenging times regarding the health of my family, particularly my grandmother, and the recent passing of my grandmother's sister. Therefore, I will continue this series on 1 John, specifically chapter 4, starting in verse 7, which is subtitled “God is Love.”
In the past two blog entries, I’ve focused primarily on our society and how we need to bring the word of God and the works of His Son, Jesus Christ, into our world today. However, I now feel it is essential to emphasize the importance of loving one another within our own families during difficult times.
1 John 4:7-21 states: “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. By this, the love of God was revealed in us: that God sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 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 remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this, we know that we remain in Him and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. We have come to know and believe the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, we also are in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love because He first loved us. If someone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him: that the one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.”
In these verses, the Apostle John refers to a cycle of love that ultimately culminates in the love God has for us and the love He showed by sending Jesus to die for our sins.
The reason for this post is that, during this uncertain time regarding my grandmother’s health, both sides of my family need to come together in love and support each other. My family's love for one another is profound, and the ultimate reason I’m writing this post is to encourage my readers: in times of uncertainty, we must band together and trust in the love of the Lord while loving one another.
