We are loved

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one
another. (1 John 4:11 NIV)

Any time you find yourself saying, “I just can’t love that person”, I
suggest you read this verse again to
remind yourself of the truth of God’s great love for you. If you have experienced this kind of love, if you have been to the cross and felt the overwhelming cleansing of God’s love for you, despite the antagonism and hatefulness you have shown Him and despite your loving your own way and
wanting to do what you like; if you have felt the cleansing grace of God wiping that all out without any recriminations or calling up of the past, forgetting and forgiving it all, then, as John says, you not only can love someone else but you won’t be able to do anything but love others. God’s love will automatically flow out of each of us.

John goes on to say, If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is made complete (1 John 4:12); that is, His love reaches its final end in us. That is where people see God’s love. The fact of an indwelling God becomes visible in us only when we manifest love one to another. As long as we are nice only to our friends or to those who are nice to us, no one has any idea that God is around. But when we start being nice to those who are nasty to us, when we start returning good for evil, when we start being patient, tender, thoughtful, and considerate of those who are stubborn, obstinate, and selfish, then people get the sense that God is close at hand, that He is in the situation. Then God’s dwelling in us becomes visible to them.

May God’s great love continue to bubble out of each one of us this week in ways that point people to Jesus our Saviour.