Loving God and Brothers and Sisters

God Loves Us
God's Eternal, Preserving, Renewing Love

The Source of all Love

1 John 4:20-5:5. The Message

20-21 If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.
5 1-3 Every person who believes that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah, is God-begotten. If we love the One who conceives the child, we’ll surely love the child who was conceived. The reality test on whether or not we love God’s children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome.

The Power That Brings the World to Its Knees

4-5 Every God-begotten person conquers the world’s ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.

For Reflection

The power that brings the world to its knees is not violent retribution and threat.  Rather it is the power of non-violent justice and promise. It is the hope found in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Roman kings promised peace enforced with threat and violence.  Christ offered the peace that resulted from obedience to the will of God and love. The former was temporary, the latter eternal. To what extent do we act on this belief?

Pray

Pray for the courage to practice non-violence. Pray for peace.