Verse of the day: 1 John 3:1 Behold what manner
of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Am I the only one who
sometimes questions how it is that God could love me? When we stop and take an
honest look at ourselves, it is easy to ask this question within our own minds.
However, the Word of God if very clear that God loves us and His love is
unwavering. The issue we have with believing it is that we mistakenly view God’s
love in light of the love we have experienced from others or the love we give
others (which, in both cases, always falls short). We have had people who
claimed to love us who have rejected us and even hurt us. We have found
ourselves in situations where we just could not love someone because we did not
“feel” love toward them (maybe because of something they did to us to hurt us
or offend us). This is not the case with God’s love, and God’s love is not
about a “feeling”. God’s love is unconditional, and unchanging. God’s love
fulfills a need, and is not based on whether or not God feels like doing something
for us. In this verse we are reminded of how great God’s love is toward us that
He would bring us into His family, knowing how wretched we are (Rom 3:10, 23; John
1:12). The love of God toward us (or man in general) is so unfathomable that
when we tell those who do not know Him that we are His children, they mock us
and see us as delusional and crazy. However, this should not be a strange thing
to us, as the world that does not know Him will not know us. It also means that
just as the world hated Him, it will hate us, especially when we proclaim that
we belong to Him (John 15:20). Nonetheless, regardless of what the world
believes or how they treat us, it does not change God’s love for us one iota.
This fact alone should give us the courage and strength to march onward in the
face of trials, tribulations, persecutions, and all that God allows in our walk
with, and service to, Him. We are reminded by Matthew that we are to be glad,
and full of joy when we experience persecution, as our reward will be great in
Heaven (Matt 5:12). Romans 8:18 reminds us that our pain here is no comparison
to the glory that we will see in the future, as we will be made like unto Him
(Phil 3:21). With that said, we are encouraged in this chapter of 1 John to
live a life that is holy. As God’s children, even though we may stumble, our
desire should be to live a life free of sin. A person who lives life sinning,
with no remorse or desire to change is clearly not a child of God, but a child
of the devil. God has rescued us from a life of sin, and as the Lord loved us,
and gave His life for us, even while we were still His enemies (Rom 5:8); we
are now called to show that same love toward one another. John goes on to tell
us in verse 17-18 that we demonstrate our love when we see a need in our
brother’s life and we take the step to meet that need with what God has blessed
us with (whether from our material resources or our time and compassion). We
are to love by our actions, and not in word alone (as anyone can speak words of
love, as even the unsaved can in order to manipulate and get their own way). We
are to love as God loved, to the extent that we show love toward our enemies if
necessary (Matt 5:43-44). What can we do to repay such love as the Father has
for us? Humanly speaking there is nothing we can do to repay Him. However, as
His children our desire should be to live a life that honors the love He has so
openly demonstrated toward us by going to the Cross in our stead. Now we are to
do the same and openly demonstrate our love, not only towards Him, but towards
one another (John 13:34-35). When we live by His commandments (one being to
love one another) we show evidence that His Spirit abides in us, and that we
truly are His children.
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