Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. 1 John 4:7-11
Proof of Life
If a tree is alive, it has buds, leaves, and bears fruit. These are signs of life. If it is dead it will not have any of these things. Fruit is a sign of life for a tree and for a believer it is the same. If are a Christian, and in a growing relationship with the Lord, there will be fruit. There will be proof of life flowing from our lives.
One of the fruits of the Spirit is love. If we are a Christian and have Jesus in our heart and if we are walking with Him – learning to live and love like Him – it will be evident to all those around us. When we are alive in Him, there will be love. What does the fruit of love demonstrate in the life of the believer as the Spirit forms it in us?
Love demonstrates knowledge of God.
If we are in a relationship with God we will know love. If we do not love we do not know God, because God is love. Love is the direct result of a relationship with Him. This love demonstrates knowledge of God in our lives because when you have a deep relationship with someone, you really know them. God is love in the purest form and we get to share that knowledge and love with everyone around us.
Just knowledge is not enough. There must be a relationship that changes us, because Agape love (love that sacrifices for others and is for the good of others) is not natural to us. We are selfish by nature but when we are born again we are born into a new life. We love because of his love for us. This purest love overflows to those around us.
Love demonstrates evidence of God.
As believers, our lives overflow with His love and will be evidence that God has actually done what He said He will do. He sent His Son who died on the cross to pay our debt so we could be forgiven, and He defeated death, hell, and the grave with His resurrection. He did all this because of His love for us. His love flows through us to the rest of the world – this is evidence that the Bible is true.
Love demonstrates the presence of God.
His love for us and in us will guide how we live. We ought to love one another because love comes from Him. We ought to love the unlovely too. There are people who continuously push others away on purpose. They do not like themselves enough to allow themselves to feel love from others, and they especially will not readily accept that the God of the universe could possibly love them. The presence of God in our lives loves everyone, which in turn demonstrates His presence. We cannot purely love others on our own without His presence in our lives.
Our actions demonstrate the proof of His life in our lives every day. We are called to love others not in words or speech only, but in truth and action. It is of greatest importance that we as Christians demonstrate with our lives – our words, actions, and the way we treat others – the love of God to those around us.
