He First Loved Us

“I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.” ‭‭2 John‬ ‭1:5-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

John is filled with the love of God. It is impossible to read anything in scripture from him without recognizing his love. Can others sense and feel the love of God in you? What do others feel when they are around you? Do they feel stress, anger, bitterness, distress, disappointment, hatefulness, or do they feel and experience the love of God? No matter what we say, no matter what we do, the love of God must be the primary characteristic of our lives. Without love, we are bankrupt and irrelevant. What makes the gospel relevant is the love of God. That great golden text of scripture - “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John‬ ‭3:16‬ ‭KJV‬‬ What a statement! We, somehow, misunderstand who God is. We think He is far away, looking down on us in tyrannical condemnation. This is not who He is or how He conducts Himself. He is personable. He loves. His love is pure. Only through Him can we properly know how to love our spouse, our family, our neighbor, and everyone else. Knowing God transforms our understanding of life and our application of that life. The world needs the love of God! You need the love of God! We all must know the love of God in order to make sense of life. Without this love, life is meaningless. The one thing that we all must have in order to make it through this life is the love of God. As believers in Christ, we must love one another. What relevance does the church have if we don't love each other? No one wants to go to a church where we hate one another and where God is presented as a hateful tyrant that is mad at the world. Yes, God has wrath toward sin. However, His wrath isn't toward the sinner. He loves the sinner. He hates the sin that destroys them. It is God's love that compels us to come to Him. Why do we love God? Because He first loved us. “We love him, because he first loved us.” ‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:19‬ ‭KJV‬‬ Is love the basis of who you are and what you do?