Devotions on 1 John 4:7-21, Love One Another
Monday, July 9, 2018, Love One Another
“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God” (1 John 4:7).
Mother Theresa cradles the head of a dying man in her lap. An Albuquerque police detective and his wife adopt the child of a heroin addict, while working to help the mother break for addiction. Members of a suburban congregation travel to a Native American reservation to conduct a VBS for the children. All around us are examples of love and demonstrations of the power of love.
The writer of this letter exhorts his readers to love one another. The argument for his instruction is not because it will lead to the growth of the Christian Church, or even because it is “the right thing to do.” The reason followers of Jesus love, is because love is the core characteristic of God. It is the essence of God that is most clearly demonstrated by the life and ministry of Jesus. Love is how we reflect God’s image to those around us.
You could give us no more challenging task, Lord, than to love. Empower us so that we may be obedient to your command and, through our love, honor you. Amen.
Tuesday, July 10, 2018, Love One Another
“Whoever does not love does not know God” (1 John 4:8).
“I hate those damn Muslims. They’re terrorists every last one of them and hell bent to kill Christians.” “It’s the blasted Mexicans that I can’t hate. They sneak in to our country, steal our jobs and get our people hooked on drugs.” “The problem is those homosexuals. They’re corrupting our society.” “Those morons who are supporting Trump are the epitome of evil and the enemies of anything that is good.” “Libertards are worthless pieces of crap. Good riddance to them if they want to leave the country.”
Our world, our nation and our lives are full of hate. Hate in any form and for any reason does not reflect the person of God or God’s will. Rather, it is a demonstration of our deafness to God’s Word and our hard heartedness to the movement of God’s Spirit in our lives. It is time to confess, repent, receive forgiveness and love.
Our hearts are filled with hate, Lord. Create in us clean hearts and renew your Spirit within us. Amen.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018, Love One Another
“In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son” (1 John 4:10.
“What’s that, Grandpa?” Asked Conner as he pointed to an object in the front of the sanctuary.
“That’s a cross,” answered his grandfather.
“They sure have a lot of them” observed Conner as he pointed to several around the room. “Why do they have all those crosses?”
Conner’s grandfather thought for a few moments before he answered. “Remember the little notes with the hearts that your mother often packs in your lunch box for pre-school?”
“Yeah,” replied Conner. “Mom told me they’re to remind me that she loves me.”
“Well, the cross is God’s love note to us. Every time we see a cross we are reminded that God loves us. No matter what—God loves us.”
The miracle of love is not that we love, but that we are loved.
Lord, we are amazed that you embrace us with your love even when we are not very loveable and don’t love you back. Thank you. Amen.
Thursday, July 12, 2018, Love One Another
“He has given us his Spirit” (1 John 4:13)
Jillian awoke, in the early morning hours, to the call tones of her cell phone. With a groggy voice she spoke, “Hello, this is Jillian.” The response was brief. “Come to the hospital ASAP. We have a new heart for you.” After two years of deteriorating health, while she waited, Jillian could hardly believe her ears. A year after the surgery, Jillian met the parents of the fourteen year old boy whose heart beat within her chest. As the parents shared about their son, Jillian nodded her head. “What you are telling me,” she said, “confirms what his heart has been telling me about your son. He has been with me for a little over a year. I am so thankful that he is a part of my life.” Later the boy’s parents told Jillian that he was a part of thirteen people whose lives had been changed because of their son.
Knowing that he was going to leave them, Jesus gave his disciples a part of himself—his Spirit. The Spirit would guide, teach, comfort and encourage them. That Spirit was not limited to The Twelve, but became a part of the life of every one of Jesus’ followers from the day of Pentecost to the present day.
Thank you, Lord, that you have given us your Holy Spirit and are a part of our lives. Amen.
Friday, July 13, 2018, Love One Another
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).
The doctor walked into the examination room with a thick file of papers under her arm. Sitting down next to Carlotta, she took Carlotta’s hand and looked her in the eye. “The test results are back and they show that you have breast cancer. It isn’t very advanced, but it will require surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.” The color drained from Carlotta’s face and her heart was filled with fear. “What did her future hold?” She wondered. “Was she going to die?”
The doctor sensed Carlotta’s dread. Squeezing Carlotta’s hand she said, “Ten years ago I walked the same path that you are now going to walk. I’ve known you long enough to know that you are a follower of Jesus, and as you know, I am, too. When I started down the path of treatment I was overwhelmed with fear—for myself, for my husband and for my children. I was scared for a couple of weeks until I had a dream one night. In that dream, Jesus came up to me, gave me a hug and told me that he loved me. He assured me that he would never let me go. Jesus was true to his promise. He never stopped loving me and he never let me go. You don’t need to fear, Carlotta. God loves you. Let God’s love remove that fear from your heart.”
There are a lot of scary things in life. Yet as followers of Jesus, we can be immersed in God’s love and live fearlessly.
Hold us tight and love us, Lord, because sometimes life is really, really scary. Amen.
Saturday, July 14, 2018, Love One Another
“We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Jasmine was a special education teacher. Her job was challenging, exhausting and sometimes scary. Over dinner one evening, Jasmine shared an incident with her husband concerning one of her students, James. James was a big, strong boy, who lost control of himself and inadvertently hit Jasmine in the arm. She showed her husband the bruise. He shook his head. “I don’t know how you do it,” he said. “I think you need to look for another line of work.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Jasmine responded. “I enjoy my job and I love my students.”
“How do you find the ability, to love someone who hurts you?” Her husband questioned.
Jasmine thought for a moment. “I can love my students,” she replied, “even though they may be a challenge, because God gives me the love and I know that God loves my students, too.”
We encounter countless situations when it appears to be difficult or impossible to love. People may have hurt us too deeply. For one reason or another, they are judged by others and by ourselves as unloveable. If we depend on our own love reserves, we discover that we cannot love. Our love, though, goes deeper than ourselves. Our love is the river of God’s love running through us. This river of God’s love never runs dry.
Lord, thank you for your steadfast love. Make us channels of your love. Amen.
Sunday, July 15, 2018, Love One Another
“For those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen” (1 John 4:20).
Roger’s marriage of twelve years was on the rocks, and his family was coming apart. It wasn’t that he didn’t love his wife and children. He just didn’t show it. Anniversaries and birthdays were forgotten. Soccer games and dance recitals were missed. Even Christmas presents were purchased at the last minute from the “whatever is left rack.” Still, Roger would wax eloquent in the office coffee room and at the fitness center about how he loved his wife and family. Roger’s wife and children were the only ones not convinced and they were waiting for Roger to show them his love.
It is so easy to say that we love God. We can sing hymns and tell God how much we love God. We can follow the do’s and don’t of the church and be smug in our self-righteousness and be considered good people. Tithing can endear us to the congregational treasurer and pastor and enable us to be proud of our sacrifice. The people, to whom John was writing this letter, did all of these things. John reminded them, though, that true love for God was demonstrated by loving their brothers and sisters in the faith and the neighbors in need. Nothing else mattered. It didn’t then and it doesn’t now.
Holy Spirit, empower us so that our thoughts and words are backed up by our actions of love. Amen.