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Love! That's All! |
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Several years ago I heard Dean Sherman, Mission Leader for Youth With A
Mission talk on these Bible passages from 1 John. He especially
emphasized chapter 4 verses 7b–8 “Dear friends, let us continue to love one
another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows
God. But anyone who does not love does not know God—for God is love.” (NLT)
WOW! That goes right back to what Jesus said were the two greatest
commandments —
- “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all
your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally
important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39 NLT)
Why do we argue over which church or religion has the best or greatest
doctrinal statement? Why do we argue endlessly over what the church and
Christians should or should not be doing? If whatever we are doing is done
in love then that should be enough. Think about it. Isn’t love the only
true test of a Christian? As the song says, “They will know we are
Christians by our love.”
But then you say, “My definition of love is different than yours.” As Dean
pointed out, there should only be one definition of love — God’s definition:
- We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us. And
so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and
sisters. (1 John 3:16 NLT)
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Dear friends, let us continue to love
one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and
knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God—for God is love.
God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so
that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not
that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to
take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely
ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each
other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression
through us. (1 John 4:7-12 NLT) |
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Lord, help me to put aside all bitterness, envy,
jealousy, greed, hatred, small–mindedness and religiosity. Instead, help me
to love, simply and unselfishly, everyone with whom I come in contact. And
loving them, help me to act on that love, as I want them to act on their
love for me. Amen. |
Questions for consideration...
- Do I have strong differences with others who also call themselves
"Christian?"
- How do these differences separate me from them?
- Am I following Jesus' definition of love when I deal with or talk
about these other Christians?
- If I follow Jesus' definition of love more closely, how will that
change my relationship with other Christians?
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