Notes of Faith June 28, 2024
Can Only Christians Love Others?
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7
In 1 John 4:7, the apostle John, who is known as the apostle of love, makes a shocking statement. Only the followers of Jesus, among all the people on earth, can truly love another person. He said that we should love one another, for this comes from God to those who are born again and have a relationship with Him.
Other people can experience and convey affection and compassion and attraction and physical intimacy. There can be non-Christian philanthropy and altruism. But the selfless agape love that characterizes God Himself can only be experienced and conveyed by those who know Him. If God abides in us, His love is being perfected in us (verse 12).
How are you doing with this assignment? The love that reflects Jesus compels us to do things for others without any expectation of something in return. It puts the needs and interests of others first. Ask God today to help you love others the way He does, and let’s show the world we are Christians by our love.
May the love of Jesus fill me as the waters fill the sea; Him exalting, self abasing, this is victory!
Kate B. Wilkinson
1 John 4:7-11
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 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. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Pastor Dale