“Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” 1 John 4:11
Let us love one another states the apostle, John. If we have experienced the love of God, we should love one another. Why would the apostle John make such a statement as this and to what purpose is loving one another. The word love has been misunderstood and it is not just a feeling. The Greek word for love is “agape” and it means unconditional love, or charity. It is the love of God for a person and the love that person has for God. Unconditional love is unmerited love or undeserved love. Unmerited love is linked to the grace of God. Unmerited favor or love that God has for humankind. This means we do not earn it, for it is a gift from God. This is one of the characteristics of God.
As a Christian we have God’s indwelling love inside us. This indwelling love is to be shared towards others. This is why God sent His son Jesus,” for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,” [see John 3:16]. A mother may understand better what this means after experiencing the birth of a child. A mother’s heart goes out to the child in loving and caring for its needs. A child born into this world has nothing, yet it is given clothing and food in order to survive and live. This is an example of caring for each other or the will to care for another. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” [see 1 John4:10].
Sin has separated us from the love of God. In 1 John chapter four, verse eight states, “he that loveth not, knows not God; for God is love.” If you received the love of God and are born again, you will show the love of God towards others. Look at verse twelve of chapter four of 1 John.
“No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:12
First the apostle John says that no man has seen God at any time, but then he says that if we love one another, God dwells in us and His love is perfected in us. Perfected in us. How is this possible? Perfected means free from faults or defects. We know as humans we have faults, and each individual knows their own faults. Someone will always point out our own faults, whether we want to hear it or not. It is refreshing to be accepted just as you are, and this is exactly what Christ does. We believe in Him and confess that He came in the flesh and are given the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit who will teach us all things [see John 14:26]. We are not left alone when His Spirit dwells within us.
“Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” 1 John 4:13
He has given us His Spirit states the apostle, John. This is how we know that He dwells in us. Do you know this? Is His Spirit dwelling in you? There is no hate in God only Love. There is no fear in love, for perfect love casteth out fear, [see 1 John 4:18]. Through the love of God, we are perfected. The agent is the Holy Spirit who changes us into the image of Christ.
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
We surrender all and He changes us. This is the greatest miracle of all. Human beings changed into the image of the Lord from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord. Jesus the author of our faith will perform what is in the word of God. “He that feareth is not made perfect in love,” [1 John 4:18]. Are you made perfect in love? That is the question we must ask of ourselves. We need the comforter the Holy Spirit to change us into the image of Christ. Whatever fault we may have, we lay it down at the feet of Jesus and His Spirit will prefect us, change us from glory to glory. Do you remember this worship song titled, “He’s Changing Me?”
He's Changing Me
From glory to glory He's changing me,
Changing, changing me
His likeness and image
To perfect in me.
The love of God shown to the world
For He's changing, changing me,
From earthly thing to the heavenly.
His likeness and image
To perfect in me,
The love of God shown to the world.
His likeness and His image to perfect in me. This should be our desire, for it is the will of God that we become one with the Father and His son Jesus. This is how the love of God is shown to the world.
“No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:12
No man has ever seen God at any time. Some have seen the son of God and do not believe He is God’s son. We hear the story and do not believe it is real. That is why Jesus gave this new commandment to love one another as I have loved you, [see John 13:34]. Why? So that all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have loved one towards another, [see John 13:35]. This is to show the world what unconditional love is all about and every human being deserves to be loved. Do not deceive yourself saying that you love God while hating your brother.
“If a man says, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” 1 John 4:20
We must lay our hate at the feet of Jesus and ask God to change our heart. Confess it before God and pray for the brother that you have hated. Loving others is the example of God’s love within our own hearts. His love shining through our hearts for the world to see the reality of His love for us.
