#1john4:7-21
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1 John 4:7-21 Missions Reflection
God Is Love
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.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot[a] love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Question
What does it mean for God to abide in us if we love one another? Doesn’t God (The Holy Spirit) already abide in us at the moment of conversion?
We can’t see God therefore we use these ‘tests’ as a way to see that God is with someone. These verses could be read as implying that loving is a precondition for having God - we tend to read it like that. This reading is wrong.
What does it mean for love to be perfected? Is God’s love imperfect without human participation? What difference is there between the love being perfected “in us” (v5:12) and “with us” (v5:17)?
The love being perfected in us is God’s love bringing out the desired end state (perfection) in us. Verse 17 adds more clarity and could be translated as “herein is our love made perfect”. One way that it is being perfected with/in us (inconsequential difference) is by giving us confidence that we will not be punished on the day of judgement.
Arrow (Application)
Verse 19 - “We love because He loved us first” reminds me that my standard for love is Jesus and that there are groups of brothers and sisters who although I don’t hate them, I definitely am not displaying or actively trying to love them in the same way Jesus and God have shown us love.
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God’s Love and Ours 1John4:7-21 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. https://www.instagram.com/p/B2hHGwelypd/?igshid=9jy0jqq4045z
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Spiritual Journal
Good morning, Having godly, and wise counsel that are well seasoned in experience with their spiritual walk is a blessing that brings clarity. For the word of God says, "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a Proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. The fear/reverential awe of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:5-7. For with the help of the Holy Spirit all truths are made know to us individually. As we have the Holy Spirit residing in us. (1John4:4). For the word says, "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate." Proverbs 8:13. So let's come before the Lord in prayer, with the help of the Holy Spirit, and ask for wisdom and understanding. Let's bind them around our neck.(Proverbs 6:21). For they are the things that are above and not below. "This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Galatians 5:16. Walk with God in truth. In Jesus name amen. Stay blessed and focused.😇🤗🤔
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We are #love; this is our greatest & highest self! Be a force of #love in the world & to yourself! #KreateYourLoveSelf #KreateYourGodSelf #KerseWords "Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope." ~#MayaAngelou #1John4:7-21 Message - 7-10 let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God & experiences a relationship w/God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, b/c God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us & sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins & the damage they’ve done to our rel. w/God. 11-12 My friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, & his love becomes complete in us—perfect love! 13-16 This is how we know we’re living steadily & deeply in him, & he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. ... We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart & soul, this love that comes from God. 17-18 God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God & God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home & mature in us... There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love. 19 We, though, are going to love—love & be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first. 20-21 If anyone boasts, “I love God,” & goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both. #Genesis1:27 - God created human beings, he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature.
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