Loving Is Our Life

ByJim Stephens

Scripture: 1 John 4:11-16 TPT (Click link for scripture in You Version)

11 Delightfully loved ones, if he loved us with such tremendous love, then “loving one another” should be our way of life! 12 No one has ever gazed upon the fullness of God’s splendor. But if we love one another, God makes his permanent home in us, and we make our permanent home in him, and his love is brought to its full expression in us. 13 And he has given us his Spirit within us so that we can have the assurance that he lives in us and that we live in him. 14 Moreover, we have seen with our own eyes and can testify to the truth that Father God has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Those who give thanks that Jesus is the Son of God live in God, and God lives in them. 16 We have come into an intimate experience with God’s love, and we trust in the love he has for us. God is love! Those who are living in love are living in God, and God lives through them. (1 John 4:11-16 TPT)

No one has seen the fullness of God’s splendor. Is it the splendor of the sun, the splendor of a star going nova, the splendor of a thunderstorm or hurricane? Is it the beauty of the sunrise and the sunset? Is it the vast expanse of the ocean or the height of the snow-capped mountain? No! It’s the splendor of perfect love!

If we love one another, God resides in and with us, and we reside in him and with him. In union with God, we will become the full expression of his love.  We will see the fullness of God’s splendor. We’ll see it as we become it.

  • Assurance: He has given us his Spirit within us. Every conviction of sin, every nudge to speak a kind word, every prompting to help and give and serve and sacrifice is the assurance that his Spirit is living within us. When we act better than our selfish selves we know the God who is love is living inside us.
  • Eyewitness: John tells us, “I was there! I saw him with my own eyes. I heard him laugh, I saw him weep. I saw him calm the storm and heal the sick. I ate with him. I touched him. I hugged him. I stood at the foot of the cross and his blood fell on me.”
  • Experience: When I love beyond my own selfish desires and interests, I am experiencing God’s Love, living in and through me by God’s Spirit. I am experiencing the love God has for me and letting it flow through me to others God loves.

Prayer:

Father, We have come into an intimate experience with your love, and we trust in the love you have for us. You are love! When we live in love we are living in you, and you are living through us. It seems so distant sometimes, almost impossible, but will you fill us again with your love and may it flow from us to the ends of the earth. Amen!