Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

February 14, 2018

by Pastor Hawtree

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:

TO HELP ME LOVE OTHERS

I John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

As we discuss love today, the first word in this verse tells us everything we need to know in order to be able to do everything God is getting ready to tell us to do. We are “Beloved”. That simply means that we are loved by God. That is pretty special. God, who knows our faults and failures, loves us. God, who knows every wrong thought or action, and every hidden sin, loves us. It sure is great to be loved unconditionally, isn’t it?

Based on this amazing gift to us, God now encourages us to love one another. Now this is very difficult in our lives. I’m not really sure why but I would assume it’s because we are flesh and we are sinners. We would all say how difficult this seems to be, and yet could you imagine how difficult it would be for a Holy God to love us like He does. I would say God has a tougher job. But you and I can be very strange sometimes. In fact, we can sometimes be less loving with the people in our lives that we really do love, and act more loving to people in our lives who we really don’t love. Sometimes we can show more love to a total stranger than we do to our own husband or wife.it is strange isn’t it?

In order for us to follow God‘s command here, there’s a few things that we need to notice. First, we need to understand that love is “of God”. God has to be involved in order for love to show up. The further away from God we become, the less loving we will be. When we have a problem with love, we have a problem with God.

Second, The only way to truly display this kind of love is to have been born again by the grace of God. To be saved. Now I know what you’re thinking. You would say, preacher, some of the most unloving people I have ever met are so-called Christians. I would say a hearty amen to that. But I would also say that some of the most loving individuals I have met are born-again Christians. Being saved does not mean that you will be loving, but God says you cannot display a Godly love until God lives in your heart.

Finally, God says in order for us to show a Godly love, we have to intimately “know God”. This means if we have not spent time with God, endeavored to deeply know God, and communicated consistently with God, the love of God will not display itself in our life. This is why there are many Christians who do not display the love of God. They simply don’t know Him! You cannot deeply know God without that deeply impacting your life. And the first area that it shows is in how you show love to others. God even said that the way an individual will know that you are a disciple of God is if you show the love of God to others.

I say the first place to start is in your own house. I think the next place to start is in your own extended family. I think the third place to start is in your own church. And I think the final place to work on for the rest of your life is to show love to everyone you come into contact with. As hard as that sounds, that is what God would do. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!