Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Our Lord Comes

1 John 4:7-21

Sherin K. Abraham
St. Andrews MTC, NY
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (v. 10)
 
In this passage, John is writing letters to the next generation of gentile believers who are slowly becoming skeptical of Jesus’ authenticity as the Savior. He wrote this letters  to dispel doubts about Christ and reassure the believers in their faith. In this passage, John is contrasting between perfect love and fear. John starts off by calling them “Beloved” because they were already loved by God. John urges people by reiterating “Agape” (divine or sacrificial love) so that they understand the wonderful nature of His love. He encourages the believers to spread the love that they have been presented with.

    We can start understanding God’s steadfast love towards His undeserving and sinful people when He sent His only son so that we may believe in Him. God was willing to go to any length so that He can have a relationship with us. Our shallow experiences in love cannot fathom the divine love showed to us by God sacrificing His son to death on Calvary. When we recognize and share the love that we have been gifted, God abides in us through His Spirit. Even when times are difficult and we start questioning God’s love, we can rest assured that God is our strength and He will satisfy us.

    Many a times we fail to understand God’s love and it affects us negatively. We start to have wrong perspectives of life, wrong opinions about ourselves, fail to serve God and misinterpret certain events in our life. Nowadays, our love is very conditional and based on fear. We always look for our best rather than look to the needs of others. We have a hard time being vulnerable and able to maintain trust with others. Due to that, we never understand the depth of God’s love for us. When we are immersed in His love, we are motivated to spread that love to others. Even when fear nudges us to keep our distance, His perfect love casts out those fear.

PRAYER

Lord, we believe that You came down to rescue us and set us free. Help us to love You above all things. You are worthy of all our love. Amen.
 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
He loved us not because we are lovable, but because He is love. - C. S. Lewis

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