The contrasts that John explains in this part of his letter are about true and false teaching, and love and fear.
We all know that actions speak louder than words and what greater example do we have than by God demonstrating this by sending us Jesus who was then sacrificed to save us from our sins. God loves us first and so we can display our faith by loving others.
- 4 can be so comforting - there is so much in our world that can worry or cause fear in us, yet we must be reassured God is greater than all the things in our world that seem wrong and there is nothing He cannot fix. We need to remember to turn to the Holy Spirit to ask for the peace and truth to be revealed in our hearts. But we also need to wary of false teaching. You cannot always believe what you hear. Any words from God to us should be tested, do they go along with Jesus’ teachings? This is described in Colossians 2:8-10.
Do we think of love as just a feeling? If we follow the teachings of Jesus and act as He did then love is also making that choice to care for others and then acting in a way that shows that love.
We are promised in Romans 8:38,39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”- I think I should pray that over myself at the start of each day! Focus on God's love for us and this will give us confidence to overcome our fears and go out and love others.
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Question:
Look around - do we genuinely love those around us? How can we absolutely love God if we neglect others - remember we were all created in God's image and who are we to judge others.
Prayer:
(From “14 Purposeful Prayers for Women - Grace and Prayers”)
Lord, help me to see when people need help around me. Help me to be joyful about all the tasks I can help with even if they are undesirable and especially if it is inconvenient for me. Help me to be like the good Samaritan and not only help those that I love, but strangers or those I dislike. You help everyone and it is my call to imitate you. Thank you for Your strength and goodness. In Your Name, I pray - Amen.