1 John 4:12-13 (CEB)

12 No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us. 13 This is how we know we remain in him and he remains in us, because he has given us a measure of his Spirit.


Reflection

When my children were young they’d ask me, “How much do you love me.” And I’d hold my hands apart and say, “I love you this much.” And they’d respond, “Well, I love you this much,” holding their arms out wider. And I’d hold my arms out wide and say, “Well, that’s a lot, but I love you more!” And we’d hug and they’d run off to play happy in the knowledge that they loved us and we loved them.

We are God’s children, and we can feel like little children sometimes when we have doubts or go through tough seasons in our lives. This letter, 1 John, was addressed to believers who were going through a season of confusion and doubt and needed reassurance and a better understanding of God’s love.  They wanted to know, “How can we know God loves us?” The Good News is that it’s all about God’s love for us. God is love. We can’t see God, but we know God loves us because we experience the evidence of God’s boundless love for us.

We know God loves us because God sent Jesus to show us God’s love in action. We know God loves us because Jesus willingly went to the cross to die for us, so that we might live. We know that God loves us because this same love dwells in us by God’s power of the Spirit, empowering us to love others. This does not happen by our own will. We know this because God’s love transforms us to be like Jesus, to love and serve others. And we know God loves us because we experience the guidance of the Spirit within us.

by Jeneene Reduker


For Pondering & Prayer

Our relationship with loving God is the closest relationship we can experience because through Jesus, “we live in Him, and He in us.” God gives us the gift of God’s own indwelling Spirit so we will begin to know, how much God loves us, even though it’s beyond our human comprehension. Because no matter how much we love God, God loves us more!

How have you experienced God’s love in your life? How has God’s gift of the Spirit guided you to love others?

Prayer: Loving God, we can only begin to understand how much you love us. Let your love overflow through us to others, that they may know you, as we are guided and transformed by the gift of your Spirit. Amen.