“God showed how much He loved us by sending His One and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him.”-1 John 4:9
Countless individuals all around us struggle immensely due to the fact that they don’t think they're loved nor do they feel loved. Sadly, the number of people in our world who grew up lacking love is too staggering to count. Perhaps even you grew up in a home such as this where love was missing. The word love is used so often in our society, yet love seems so distant from so many. Music mentions love. Our media speaks much of love. A plethora of books has been written on love. But the truth is, there’s only one way to truly understand love: It starts with God, who is love (1 John 4:8,16). And for us to ever fully comprehend love, we must know and grasp (with God’s help) that He is love, and we are loved by Him.
Think about it: Do you know you are loved? Do you grasp just how much you’re loved? Scripture tells us that God has revealed just how much we are loved through a specific Person. His name is Jesus. This is no small thing. In fact, this is monumental to comprehend, to know, and to believe! Let’s reread 1 John 4:9. May we read it slowly this time and seek to let the words sink in deeply: “God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him.” It’s worth reading the next verse too which says, “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:10).
True love starts with God, The Author of love. No greater love has been shown or given than through God loving us so much that He sent His One and only Son to pay the price for our sin that we could never pay. This is real love! This is the love God wants us to know, to trust, to believe, and then to share with others. Only as we take in His love can we then begin to love well. This is why God led John to go on to write in 1 John 4:11, “Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.”
Love is real and desperately needed. Love comes from God. He is The Source. Astoundingly, we are loved by Him. He proved it through Christ. Let’s be reminded of this life-changing truth again. Believe it. Bask in it. Be refreshed by it. And then, let’s share it with joy to all those around us! “We love because He first loved us.”-1 John 4:19
Cheer up, friends!
-Scott