Responding with Gratitude - Pt. 11

 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have 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 abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7-12 ESV).

 

John teaches that “God is love.” One of the clearest ways God has shown his love to us has been through sending Jesus to us. And it’s important to note when God did this: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

 

God wants us to reflect the love he has shown to us as we interact with the people around us. As John puts it, “Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Likewise, Paul calls us to “follow God’s example” by showing love to all people. This is the response we should have in gratitude for His grace and mercy.

 

In some ways, love is what makes Christianity special. Other religions seem to focus more on obedience or a system of rewards for certain actions. And human reason cannot make sense of the focus on love. Loving actions that reflect the love of God can be so contrary to corrupt human reason. Our hearts are used to a quid pro quo—I’ll do this because you did that. Following that system, love is merely earned and not a gift.

 

But if God's love had to be earned, none of us could ever be loved. Christian love is free; it is expensive for the one who offers it, but not for the one who receives it. Take care to cover all your actions in the same kind of love God has shown to us.