Love

SCRIPTURE: 1 John 4: 7-10My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.

OBSERVATION: Here we see the reference to loving neighbor and loving God. A theme that is repeated throughout the New Testament. Love is the greatest gift ever given to humanity. It is through Gods love that He sent Jesus. It is through God's love that we have prevenient, justifying, and sanctifing grace. And it is through love that we expereince a relationship with God.

APPLICATION: As Christians we are called to love each other and it is through that love for others that our love for God is made real. To perfectly love God, we have to perfectly love others and yet...we are not perfect. We are far from it. So, how do we love others in a way that would be pleasing to God? Day by Day, little by little. It is a process and we are not going to get there overnight. It's called santification and it takes time. It also takes us putting forth some effort. I believe that while we do nothing to earn God's love; God's prevenient and Justifying grace and these onl come through his love...we do have a role to play in the growing to be Christ like. The role includes Bible study, prayer, fasting, and all the other means of grace. It also includes building of relationships. It means growing in our love toward one another and it is through that love for others in which our love for God manifest itself.

PRAYER: O God, help me to love and to grow in my love for others today and each day this week. Help me to focus specifically on ways that I can demonstrate my love for others. In Christ, Amen