“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves His children, too. We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey His commandments.” (1 John 5:1-2 NLT)
When we believe, in the sense that John uses that word in the verse above, Scripture will come to life with meaning, guiding us into Truth we never knew existed. Many questions we have are answered, not because we get smarter or even gain better understanding, but because the closer we get to Jesus the more clarity He gives us in regard to a lot of things, including ourselves.
Belief in Jesus opens a level of commitment that being a child of God deepens, not only our understanding of, but our application of our love for God, ourselves and others, including our brothers and sisters in Christ. Why is that so vital? First, because a desire to love isn’t innate, it’s a gift of God. And notice John’s line of reasoning in the verse above.
It seems reasonable to me to think if I love and obey God, then He would give me assurance and confidence that I then loved His children, my brothers and sisters in Christ, and that’s exactly what John is saying. The evidence that we know, that we have intimacy, closeness, commitment to our brothers and sisters in Christ, is the level of growing intimacy we have with the Father.
If we don’t love and obey the Lord, how could we ever hope to have love for His children? But when our heart overflows with love for God it’s our instinct to then, in turn, love who and what He loves. I believe Christine Caine must have had something similar in mind when she wrote: “When we love God and receive His love, we won’t be able to help but love those around us.”
Paul addresses this idea in 1 Corinthians 13:11-12 NLT: “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”
As long as we’re in this flesh we’ll struggle, yet, by God’s grace and with His help and guidance we can take strides in the right direction by simply staying close to Him. The greater our level of intimacy with the Lord the greater our desire to want nothing but what He wants for us, including, but not limited to, a greater capacity to love like He loves.
Love is the earmark of a believer in Jesus. As I’ve traveled to other countries, I didn’t have to muster up some artificial feeling for my brothers and sisters in Christ that I would meet; nor did I have to be concerned that they wouldn’t love me. There’s a level of loving acceptance among those whose hearts belong to Jesus that immediately gives us an openness and genuine affection for one another. We literally can’t help ourselves from loving one another.
How about you? Do you find it hard to love others? Does the hair on the back of your neck stand up when you see “that” person coming into church? Hate to break it to you, but that’s not their problem, it’s yours. Get over yourself, submit to Christ’s Lordship in and over your life and let Him love others through you. It sure makes life a lot easier.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 