Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.  

—1 John 4:7-16

In the passage above, John sets the bar incredibly high – because people do not see God directly they should see evidence of His presence through followers of Christ. Can you think of a time when someone may have seen evidence of God through you or your actions? If you have, what did that feel like?

Scripture reveals God’s character including His mercy, grace and love. Through prophets God explains that He loves you (see Isaiah 43:4 for one example), the passage above reveals that God is love, and throughout Scripture God urges us to love. If God is love, how can we love apart from God? According to God’s holy word, we cannot.

Love does not exist apart from God. The word has no meaning apart from God. “Love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” and when He abides in us, His love should flow through us, revealing itself through our treatment of others.

Love is the message of the Gospel. Jesus describes the two greatest commandments as loving God and loving our neighbors (see Matthew 22:34-40), and when Jesus gave a new commandment, it was to love one another the way He loves us (see John 13:34-35).

How high, how deep, how wide is God’s love for you, and how is His love revealed?  

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16).  

The revelation of God’s love and its all-encompassing breadth also reveals its inherent sacrifice. Love and sacrifice are inseparably bound.  God loves the world and He offers the key for relationship with Him to everyone in the world. God loves you so much that He gave His Son offering you the holy, gracious gift of relationship with Him, now and forever. No matter where you are, no matter what you have done, He welcomes you into loving relationship with Him. And if you hear whispers saying you are not good enough for God, please ignore them.

Jesus tells us about God’s love for us through many parables. One that comes to mind is the Parable of the Prodigal Son. We know the story well. A man had two sons. The younger son asked for his inheritance early and the father gave it to him. The son went away, lived foolishly, squandered the money, and found himself in a foreign land tending pigs and experiencing hunger to the point that he desired to eat the food he was giving to the pigs. He had nothing left and finally he surrendered his pride and he returned home intending to beg his father for mercy. His father had been waiting for him and as soon as he saw his son coming, the father ran out to greet him, to hug him and to welcome him home, and he celebrated his lost son’s return (see Luke 15:11-32). No matter where you have been, your heavenly father is waiting for you, waiting to welcome you into relationship with Him, waiting to begin the celebration. 

Luke begins chapter 15 with two other parables about the lost and the found, the Parable of the Lost Coin and the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Jesus concludes each by describing the celebration in heaven when a person turns to God saying.  

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:7

Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  Luke 15:10

How can we possibly love? If God is love, how can we possibly love? It is only possible through Christ Jesus. He came that we might receive His life, His light, His love, and through His resulting indwelling, that we might be His agents of love out in the world, showering His light in the darkness, and revealing His life to all who have eyes to see.

May you abide in love now and forever, Amen.