1 John 4: God Is Love
1 John 4
God Is Love
11. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
16. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
21. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
◇ Sometimes, I find the Bible very difficult to understand. This is because there are many parts that I do not comprehend. The times and cultural differences, changes in values, and so forth make the background of the Bible vastly different from today. Because the Bible is difficult, I often think of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as very complex beings. I tend to see them as complicated and hard to understand. Consequently, I sometimes feel that living a life of faith is challenging.
However, there are times when I find the Bible very easy to understand. There are certainly many difficult passages in the Bible. Yet, as I read through it, I find that the most important messages from God are not written in a complicated manner. Fear God! Obedience is better than sacrifice! Honor your parents! Protect and help the weak! Love your neighbor!
From the Old Testament to the New Testament, God's heart, will, and plans are written in a way that anyone can read and understand. The difficult part is not the Bible itself. It is not about understanding who God is. The difficult part is living out what we know.
God is love. Therefore, it is right for us to love one another. We know this very well. However, for so many reasons, we fail to act on it. We cannot let go of those reasons. The challenge in living a life of faith is not the Bible, but the inability to let go of what we must in order to act on what we know.
God is love. Therefore, love one another!
♧ God, help me to let go of everything that hinders my walk with you. Make me a person who loves others, which is what pleases you the most. Holy Spirit, guide me in truth. Amen.