Irvin Wasswa- Tylertown Campus Pastor
1 John 4:7-12;19
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 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. 10 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. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
The world renowned R&B singer Tina Turner was best known for her 1984 hit single, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” In the song she describes love as “just a second hand emotion.” Her definition of love according to that statement is something that is simply self-serving in nature. In her mind, love is a fleeting emotion that comes and goes based on a particular circumstance in a relationship. Though the song is catchy, the lyrics speak to the lie in which many have bought into.
Love is more than just some fleeting emotion that is here today and gone tomorrow. Love is more than just some empty words we mutter to our friends/family. We see love defined in the scriptures as a verb! Love is an action! In 1 John 4 it says that God is love and He showcased His love by sending His Son into the world to die so that we can have life in His name. We are able to love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). True love is found in knowing God through surrendering your heart and life to Jesus. True love is a choice, demonstrated in action.
Those of us who are in Christ know what true love is, therefore our call is to exhibit that love to those around us. If we are not careful though, we can become victims of simply loving God and others in word only, when we are called to love them in deed and in truth. We can’t say we love God yet we never spend time with Him. We can’t say we love people, yet disparage them over social media. We can’t say we love our fellow brother/sister in the Lord yet never look to build them up or serve them. Let us choose to truly love people in our actions!
What’s love got to do with it? Everything. Vs. 12 says though no one has seen God, if we choose to love one another, God’s love abides in us. When we choose to love one another, those around us see the evidence of God living in us. In the context of the passage, John is speaking to loving one another in the church. However, this too can be applied to loving those outside the church as well. When we choose to love our neighbor who may look different than we do, and have a different perspective on life than we do, it is evidence of God living in us! When we choose to love, a lost world takes notice and God opens up doors for us to share the truth of the Gospel with them and how they can experience His love.
So today, choose to exhibit this type of love. For you who have a family, choose to love them in deed today by serving them. Let us choose to treat our neighbors and friends with dignity today. Let us choose to build up each other in the body of Christ. Let us choose to show grace with those whom we may not agree with via social media. Let us choose to LOVE, because God first loved us.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Dear Heavenly Father Lord, help me today to choose to love in deed, not just in word. Remind me that because I know You, I have experienced true love and therefore can show that love to others. In Jesus’ name, amen!
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
1 John 3:18
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.