Devotion • May 29
Today's Scripture
1 John 4:7–21
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (NRSV)
Reflection
A form of the word love appears twenty-five times in this passage. There’s no room for subtlety.
John pleads with us here, emphasizing that even when we get other things wrong (as we so often do), our Creator compels us to commit ourselves to loving each other — and talk is cheap. Expansive, wide-ranging, and sometimes radical action is what’s required, action that shapes our behaviors both with the individuals we love most in this world as well as “the stranger.” We’re talking boldness, holding space for the humans closest to us when their behaviors are confounding, and venturing into places beyond our comfort zone.
This powerful sentence from the passage compels us to consider (probably on a regular basis) what our triune God asks of us: “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is made complete in us” (1 John 4:12 NIV). For me, Micah 6:8 speaks most poignantly about God’s all-encompassing love for God’s people: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Akin to regular exercise, developing this level of “love muscle” takes practice. It is challenging, scary, and requires humility. We build this strength through trust in the God who loved us and forgave us our sins before the moment of our first breath. With knowledge and gratitude for this radical connection, we continue to grow in our relationship with God and with all God's creations.
Prayer
Creator God, please help me to remember to turn to you always, especially when I struggle with the often-difficult work of genuine love. Thank you for loving me through the dark times and for infusing me with energy, faith, and patience when I wrestle to do the right thing, the hard thing, the thing that will ultimately bring me nearer to you. Amen.
Written by Betsy Storm, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church
Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church
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