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\n1Jn 4:7-19<\/b>\u00a0<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/a>\u00a0In 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. \u00a0Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. \u00a0No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. \u00a0By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.\u00a0And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. \u00a0Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.\u00a0So 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. \u00a0By 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. \u00a0There 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.\u00a0We love because he first loved us.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Anybody with a TV has likely stumbled upon reality television: reality survival, reality jobs, reality living, and reality love. The funny thing, of course, is that there\u2019s often very little reality in these programs. They\u2019re usually highly scripted productions meant to entertain, educate, market, or further an agenda.<\/p>\n
The problem is that the content being pushed as \u201creality\u201d tends to offer a skewed view of the world.<\/p>\n
There is a source that presents an authentic description of love, but it certainly isn\u2019t a prime time show with roses and multiple contestants. Instead, I\u2019m referring to the Bible, and 1 John 4:7\u201319 gives a wonderful and true picture of real love.<\/p>\n
The Source:<\/strong>\u00a0Verses 7\u20138 show us the source of true love. It comes from God and Him alone. You cannot manufacture love, recycle it, or even copy it. True love is only of God, because by nature God is love. Therefore, love is something we cannot experience apart from God.<\/p>\n
The Example:<\/strong>\u00a0A reality star dropping to one knee in proposal is not the example of true love. Rather, true love is demonstrated by God in that He gave us His only Son (verses 9\u201311). Verse 10 states it very clear: \u201cIn this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n
God loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die on a cross so that we might live forever with Him. That\u2019s true love!<\/p>\n
The Experience:<\/strong>\u00a0Most individuals want to love and to be loved. It\u2019s a natural yearning within us. Verses 12\u201313 show that true love indwells the believer in the form of the Holy Spirit. If you want to experience what true love is all about, you must have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you.<\/p>\n
Our Response:<\/strong>\u00a0Similarly, verses 14\u201316 make it clear that real love demands a response. John encourages us to respond to God\u2019s love by believing in and confessing Him as Lord. When we do that, God Himself will abide in us so that we can experience true love.<\/p>\n
The Outcome:<\/strong>\u00a0First, the love of Christ makes us complete. The \u201clove\u201d that the world gives leaves us searching and wanting. We search for fulfillment in philanthropy, education, sex, drugs, or money, but it doesn\u2019t make us complete. Verse 17, on the other hand, says, \u201cLove has been perfected among us in this \u2026<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n
Second, knowing true love will give us boldness both in this world, and as we stand before God when entering eternity. Verse 18 says, \u201cThere 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<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because of God\u2019s true love for us, we don\u2019t have to fear His judgment, or\u2014for that matter\u2014other people, losing a loved one, or losing a job. Fear is driven away as our eyes are fixed on the One who gave His life for us.<\/p>\n
My friends, the world may have a confused understanding of love, but we\u2014as children of God\u2014understand true love. In a world filled with hate and anger, we must share that love with others.<\/p>\n
John 13:35 says, \u201cBy this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.<\/i>\u201d Let\u2019s live in such a way that people will recognize us by the love we have for one another, recognize we\u2019re different, and see the love of Christ in and through us. (F.Graham)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
1Jn 4:7-19\u00a0\u00a0Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son … Continue reading “60.b. 1John 4:7-19\u00a0“<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-prayers"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195287"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195291,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195287\/revisions\/195291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}