1 John 4:8, 16 - GOD IS LOVE.
1 John 4:8b, 16b (KJV, NKJV, NASB, NRSV,
NIV, ESV, HCSB, NLT) God is love.
INTRODUCTION
The greatest truth in all of Scripture is
this: God is love. [Experiencing God Day by Day by
Henry and Richard Blackaby.]
Love, in this passage, is absolutely not
human. The human heart is a complete stranger to
the kind of love described here. The definition
for God's agape love can be found in John 3:16,
it is self-sacrificial in nature; in I
Corinthians 13, agape love is patient, kind, not
jealous, doesn't brag, isn't arrogant, doesn't act
unbecomingly, doesn't seek its own, isn't provoked,
doesn't take into account a wrong suffered, doesn't
rejoice in unrighteousness but in truth, bears all
things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things and never, never fails. And last,
agape love has Almighty God as its source. Love
is not God, God is love. We cannot exercise
this love without a personal relationship with
Jesus Christ. If you don't see it in your life,
ask God for it today and be prepared for a
radical change in your life. [In His Time; Walk With
Wisdom]
Everyone believes that love is important,
but love is usually thought of as a feeling. In
reality, love is a choice and an action, as 1
Corinthians 13:4-7 shows. God is the source of our love:
he loved us enough to sacrifice his Son for us.
Jesus is our example of what it means to love;
everything he did in life and death was supremely
loving. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to love;
he lives in our hearts and makes us more and
more like Christ. God's love always involves a
choice and an action, and our love should be like
his. How well do you display your love for God in
the choices you make and the actions you take?
[Life Application SB]
John says, "God is love," not "Love is God."
Our world, with its shallow and selfish view of
love, has turned these words around and
contaminated our understanding of love. The world thinks
that love is what makes a person feel good and
that it is all right to sacrifice moral
principles and others' rights in order to obtain such
"love." But that isn't real love; it is the exact
opposite - selfishness. And God is not that kind of
"love." Real love is like God, who is holy, just,
and perfect. If we truly know God, we will love
as he does. [Life Application SB]
COMMENTARY PEARLS
Knowing God
How can we pray to Him without being with
Him? How can we be with Him but in thinking of
Him often? And how can we often think of Him,
but by a holy habit which we should form of it?
You will tell me that I always say the same
thing. It is true, for this is the best and easiest
method I know. I use no other. I advise all the
world to do it.
We must know before we can love. In order
to know God, we must often think of Him. And
when we come to love Him, we shall then also
think of Him often, for our heart will be with our
treasure. -Letter 9
Your ability to love and trust someone is
directly related to how well you know them. Brother
Lawrence reasoned that before we can love and trust
God, we must know Him, and to know Him, we must
think of Him often. Since we were made in God's
image and He is love, then knowing God better
should help us better understand ourselves and in
turn love others. But knowing someone on a deeper
level takes time and opportunity. Do you think of
Him often? [The Practice of the Presence of God:
40 Day Devotional by Brother Lawrence/Alan
Vermilye]
For us, knowledge means information,
facts, and concepts. But in biblical times,
knowledge was centered in personal relationships. To
know someone is to enter into a close
relationship with that person. Knowing God involves much
more than simply mastering facts and information
about him. It even transcends discussions about
the nature and character of God, as important as
those are.
Knowing God means entering into an
intimate relationship with him. It means identifying
with God and learning to view everything as God
does. Knowing God will transform our thoughts and
actions, our priorities and values, and our
relationships with fellow human beings. It is far more
important than religious rites, sacrifices, burnt
offerings, or any other religious activity (Jeremiah
9:23-24; 31:34}. [One Year NLT SB re Hosea 4:1, 6]
Knowing God through experience is
radically different than knowing about God from a
theology textbook. According to the Bible, you cannot
say you know God unless you have experienced Him
(Php 3:8, 10). Biblical knowledge always involves
experience
If you have not experienced Gods power
at work in and through your life, do not settle
for a secondhand knowledge of Gods power,
rejoicing in what He has done in others. Jesus
prayer was that you would come to know God and His
presence in your life and experience. Dont
discount the power of God as described in Scripture
simply because you have not experienced it. Bring
your experience up to the standard of Scripture,
never reduce Scripture to the level of your
experience. Dont settle for a head knowledge of
Gods love. Jesus prayed that you would experience
the depth and width and height of His love and
that you would enjoy Gods full and unending
love in the day-to-day experiences of your life.
[Experiencing God Day by Day by Henry and Richard Blackaby
re John 17:3]
The aim of conversion is to bring one
into daily fellowship with the Father in heaven.
For the believer, taking time each day
with God's Word and in prayer is indispensable.
Each day we need to wait upon God for His
presence and His love to be revealed.
It is not enough at conversion to accept
forgiveness of sins or even to surrender to God. That is
only a beginning. We must understand that we have
no power on our own to maintain our spiritual
life. We need to receive daily new grace from
heaven through fellowship with the Lord Jesus. This
cannot be obtained by a hasty prayer or a
superficial reading of a few verses from God's Word. We
must take time to come into God's presence, to
feel our weakness and our need, and to wait on
God through His Holy Spirit to renew our
fellowship with Him. Then we may expect to be kept by
the power of Christ throughout the day.
We must see the absolute necessity of
spending time with the Lord Jesus. Without this, the
joy and power of God's Holy Spirit in daily life
cannot be experienced. [Andrew Murray 365-Day
Devotional Bible mod.]
There is more to becoming a Christian
than accepting a set of doctrines and striving to
live out a particular lifestyle. Being a
Christian involves allowing God to become a living
presence in your life ... A Christian is a person who
is possessed by Christ in such a way that
feelings, thoughts, and attitudes are all changed.
For the Christian person, loving becomes a
spiritual exercise because God is love, and the
Christian knows that "every one that loveth is born of
God." God wants to indwell you and affect your
consciousness for many reasons, but above then all is His
desire to be able to reach other people with His
love through you ... If you will pray and ask Him
to be an indwelling reality and if you are
willing to yield to His will in all things, He will
enter into your consciousness and begin to effect
a transformation in your life. Most
important, you will, little by little, begin to relate
to other people as He would relate to them You
will recognize that being a Christian involves a
commitment to treat others as He would treat them...
If you want to do something that will
cause you to become a more loving person,
surrender yourself to Jesus. He has a way of making
lovers out of people. [Tony Campolo; Time With God
SB]
COMMENTARY
Accepting God's Gift of Love
Many people simply can't believe that the
Lord loves them. Others believe that He loves
them, but only when they are pleasing Him in some
way. Why is it so hard for us to accept His
unconditional love?
One reason is that we have a hard time
loving others without condition. We might say the
words "I love you" to our spouse, children,
friends, co-workers, or fellow believers but all too
often are calculating in our mind whether or not
they've lived up to our standard. We sometimes
excuse ourselves from loving certain people because
their behavior upsets or annoys us. The fact that
we place restrictions on extending favor causes
us to wrongly assume that the Lord does
likewise.
Another reason is poor self-image.
Considering ourselves unworthy, we refuse to accept
God's love. You know what? None of us are worthy
of the heavenly Father's goodness and mercy -
so you can let go of that excuse once and for
all. We're not coming to Him based on our worth.
Rather, we're coming to Him based on His grace, and
our position is secure in Christ. To put
yourself down as "beneath His grace" is to trample on
His loving, generous gift. God arranged an
awesome divine way for us to be reconciled to Him,
and His greatest desire is for relationship with
each of us.
If you feel unloved or struggle to accept
yourself, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of
our heavenly Father's love for you - and to sink
it deep into your heart. Receive the truth that
He reveals. It will be a completely different
story about your value as an individual. [In Touch
Daily Devotional by Charles Stanley at
www.intouch.org]
"God is love" is written upon every opening
bud, upon every spire of springing grass. The
lovely birds making the air vocal with their happy
songs, the delicately tinted flowers in their
perfection perfuming the air, the lofty trees of the
forest with their rich foliage of living green --
all testify to the tender, fatherly care of our
God and to His desire to make His children
happy. SC10
God is love. Like rays of light from the
sun, love and light and joy flow out from Him to
all His creatures. It is His nature to give. His
very life is the outflow of unselfish love. We
are to be centers of light and blessing to our
little circle, even as He is to the universe. We
have nothing of ourselves, but the light of His
love shines upon us, and we are to reflect its
brightness. If you are the children of God you are
partakers of His nature, and you cannot but be like
Him. Every child lives by the life of his father.
If you are God's children, begotten by His
Spirit, you live by the life of God. In Christ
dwells "all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"
(Colossians 2:9); and the life of Jesus is made manifest
"in our mortal flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:11). That
life in you will produce the same character and
manifest the same works as it did in Him. {MB 77}
Love is power. Intellectual and moral
strength are involved in this principle, and cannot
be separated from it. The power of wealth has a
tendency to corrupt and destroy; the power of force
is strong to do hurt; but the excellence and
value of pure love consist in its efficiency to do
good, and to do nothing else than good. Whatsoever
is done out of pure love, be it ever so little
or contemptible in the sight of men, is wholly
fruitful; for God regards more with how much love one
worketh than the amount he doeth. Love is of God.
The unconverted heart cannot originate nor
produce this plant of heavenly growth, which lives
and flourishes only where Christ reigns.
Love cannot live without action, and
every act increases, strengthens, and extends it.
Love will gain the victory when argument and
authority are powerless. Love works not for profit nor
reward; yet God has ordained that great gain shall
be the certain result of every labor of love.
It is diffusive in its nature and quiet in its
operation, yet strong and mighty in its purpose to
overcome great evils. It is melting and transforming
in its influence, and will take hold of the
lives of the sinful and affect their hearts when
every other means has proved unsuccessful.....
Jesus was the Prince of Peace. He came into the
world to bring resistance and authority into
subjection to Himself. Wisdom and strength He could
command, but the means He employed with which to
overcome evil were the wisdom and strength of love.
2T135-6
When the heavenly principle of eternal
love fills the heart, it will flow out to others,
not merely because favors are received of them,
but because love is the principle of action, and
modifies the character, governs the impulses,
controls the passions, subdues enmity, and elevates
the affections. This love is not contracted, so
as merely to include "me and mine," but is as
broad as the world and as high as heaven. It is in
harmony with that of the angel workers. This love,
cherished in the soul, sweetens the entire life, and
sheds a refining influence on all around.
Possessing it, we cannot but be happy, let fortune
smile or frown. And if we love God with all the
heart, we must love His children also. This love is
the spirit of God. It is the heavenly adorning
that gives true nobility and dignity to the soul.
A soul filled with the love of Jesus
lends to the words, the manners, the looks, hope,
courage, and serenity.... It awakens a desire for a
better life; souls ready to faint are strengthened;
those struggling against temptation will be
fortified and comforted. The words, the expression,
the manners, throw out a bright ray of sunshine,
and leave behind them a clear path toward
heaven.... Every one of us has opportunities of helping
others. We are constantly making impressions upon
the youth about us. The expression of the
countenance is itself a mirror of the life within. Jesus
desires that we shall become like Himself, filled
with tender sympathy, exerting a ministry of love
in the small duties of life....
Our duty is to live in the atmosphere of
Christ's love, to breathe His love deeply, and to
reflect its warmth around us. Oh, what a sphere of
influence is open before us! How carefully we should
cultivate the garden of the soul, so that it may bring
forth only pure, sweet, fragrant flowers! Words of
love, tenderness, and charity sanctify our
influence over others. {OHC 175}
ILLUSTRATION
I have a favorite restaurant where I
often meet people for lunch. I'm probably there
three or four times a week, and I always order the
same thing. As good as the food is, there's
something about the restaurant that I like almost as
much - they know me. They know what I'm going to
order, where I want to sit, and what I'll want to
drink. In fact, if I decide to order something
else, they get a little shaken up. I love this
feeling. I love feeling like I'm known, like I'm
welcome.
At Celebrate Recovery, we can honor God
by making others feel known and welcome. We can
remember their names and offer a hello, maybe even a
hug. We can let them know we're glad they came
and hope they'll come back. These small gestures
could make the difference between someone staying
bound by addiction and someone finding freedom and
wholeness.
Celebrate Recovery is a family, a big
family with open arms. It's spread out and maybe a
little crazy, but we love it when people come in
and get involved. Most of all, this is a place
where people can come to find a relationship with
God and receive all the benefits that come with
knowing him. Let's show God's love to everyone who
comes through the doors.
Thank you, Lord, for using us to reach
people with a message of hope and let them know
that they can be whole again. In Jesus name,
Amen. [Celebrate Recovery Daily Devotional by John
& Johnny Baker re 1 John 4:7]
TESTIMONY
The Heart Of The Matter " You Are Loved!
It was Valentine's Day evening and we
were celebrating our "You Are Loved" Banquet with
our clients, when I had an interesting
interaction with one of the ladies we serve. We spoke
briefly, and like I do so often with our clients, I
looked her in her eyes and said, "I love you." In
an instant she replied, "Why?" and in another
instant, before I could respond she disappeared into
the crowd.
The question she asked me reminded me of
so many other times I have been asked about
ministering here at Western Carolina Rescue Ministries.
A decade ago, people asked me, "Why
Asheville?" A few years later: "Why the Rescue Mission?"
And even now people question why I want to
stay.
The answer to all those questions is The
same: "I love people."
Over a dozen years ago God began stirring
in my heart and calling me to Asheville. I
would drive through the mountains from Johnson
City, TN where I had a financial services firm,
and He would show me the needs of this area. The
more He moved in my heart, the more He called me
to pray.
I remember an old pastor once saying,
"You become intimate with those that you pray
with and those that you pray for." He was right!
The more I began to pray, the more I fell in
love with the marginalized people of Asheville,
the poor people who find themselves trapped on
the streets thinking they have nowhere to go and
no one to care about them.
The more I prayed, the stronger God's
call became, and it didn't take long for our
family to follow God's call to relocate here to
Asheville. We left everything - our house,
our-businesses, and all of the relationships we had built -
to follow God here to serve these people I had
grown to love.
The longer I've been here, the stronger
love grows. That's why I came, and that's why
I've stayed. I stay motivated because God called
me to use this love He placed in my heart to
awaken His destiny and purpose inside of our people
so they can live the life that He always
intended for them.
Because of that call, my chief desire is
to personally love people unconditionally, and
I want to make loving people the overarching
goal of Western Carolina Rescue Ministries.
Unconditional love is an idea that is
foreign to many people. It motivates the questions I
get asked about why I serve here. It also
motivated that lady on Valentine's Day to ask me why I
would love her.
The beauty of unconditional love is that
regardless of whether a person deserves love - or
thinks they deserves love - it is always available.
A love like that is a game-changer in this
world. Most people only have experience with
transactional affection, a fake love that is only offered
when a price has been paid or an expectation has
been satisfied. True love on the other hand, is
always available, and it is without limit.
In the Amplified translation of the
Bible, First John 4:7 says, "Beloved, let us
[unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another, for
love is from God; and everyone who loves [others]
is born of God and knows God [through personal
experience]. The one who does not love has not become
acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him],
for God is love. [He is the originator of love,
and it is an enduring attribute of His
nature.].
I offer you that same challenge. Beloved,
let us love one another! Why should we? We
should love unconditionally because we know God and
we have experienced His love in a way that
moves us to pass it on to others.
Love is powerful. Love is the
manifestation of God in this broken world. That's what
called me here, what keeps me here, and what
motivates us to do all that we do to speak life into
so many people who need to hear God's voice.
The more we experience God's love, the
more we should reflect it to others. The more we
see Him loving us when we don't deserve it, we
should overflow with unconditional love to the
people around us. Like little children who imitate
their parents, may we imitate our heavenly Father
and love in a way that changes lives every day!
It is an honor to serve this community
alongside you! Let's love well together! [Micheal
Woods, Executive Director of Western Carolina
Rescue Ministries]
PRACTICAL APPLICATION & CLOSING THOUGHT
If you want to know how to be a good
parent and build a strong family, you dont have
to look online or go to a bookstore. Look no
further than the greatest book ever written on
parenting: Gods Word, the Bible.
The Bible says in 1 John 4:7, Let us
love one another, for love comes from God
(NIV).
More than anything else, kids need
unwavering and unconditional love. There needs to be a
place where theyre accepted - warts and all.
What is compassion? Compassion is a
combination of love and understanding. Compassion is
where you know everything about someone and you
still like that person.
Love is not natural. You have to learn to
love. You learn by practicing. What better place
to practice than with the people youre
forced to live with all your life? If you can learn
to love your family, you can love anybody. Why?
Because its easy to love people at a distance,
but when youre with them all the time, you
dont always get along. When you practice love in
the family, youre learning to really love.
A lot of times we love our kids, but we
dont express it in a way they can understand it.
Children understand love in three ways: affection,
affirmation, and attention.
1. Affection. Children need lots of hugs
and touch and kisses. They need to feel your
love.
2. Affirmation. You need to tell your
kids every day - and more than once a day - how
much you love them. Affirm them, and build them
up with love.
3. Attention. One of the greatest gifts
you can give others is listening to them. When
you look at children on their level, youre
saying, You matter to me. Youre important to
me. I want to hear what you have to say. In
doing this, you show compassion. [Daily Devotional
by Rick Warren:
https://pastorrick.com/devotional/]
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE
1 John 4:8, 16 - God Is Love.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2017/20170419-2035.html
1 John 4:16 - God Is Love.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2018/20180218-1141.html
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
A Man without Equal by Bill Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo
Steps to Peace by Billy Graham:
https://stepstopeace.org/
Seeking God Made Real:
http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies:
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Voice of Prophecy Discover Bible Study
Guides:
https://www.voiceofprophecy.com/study/discover
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies:
http://www.bibleresearch.info/
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of
Adventist World Radio: https://www.awr.org/bible
Panorama of Prophecy with Pastor Doug
Batchelor: https://www.panoramaofprophecy.com/
Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW:
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
Islam and Christianity in Prophecy, The
Third and Final Conflict by Tim Roosenberg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHSJB-fuHLU&list=PLWhQIHGTHlkaGg5Cwe3NDzWtFX8vNSpsE
