Discovery Church of Ridge Meadows

“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. 18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 19 We love each other because he loved us first.” ~1 John 4:16-19 NLT

In this section of John's first letter to the early churches he challenges his listeners and readers with a concept that is both challenging and penetrating to the very core of our being... he states that our ability to love comes from God's original desire to love us first!

What a concept to consider!

Today, more than ever, we seem to be focused on the need for acceptance and love. Commercials on the television challenge us with the reality that love moves mountains and breaks down barriers of all kinds! Parents are inundated with seminars, books, and shows on the big screens in their living rooms reminding them to love and nurture each other and the precious gifts God has given them called their children.

Love most definitely is a great thing to focus and to draw people's attention to because in the end it is the one thing that cuts through so many tragedies and injustices here on this sin-filled planet.

However, in order to understand the true perspective of love as it is intended to be we need to understand the author and perfecter and originator of love and that is God himself!

God is LOVE... and we have the potential to express and embrace love because as John reminds us God first loved us!

Love is not some syrupy emotion that is fleeting and fluctuating... it is a gift given to us by the ONE who created us. It is a gift meant for relationship with Him and with others and to be shared with the world around us!

To take God out of the equation of love is something we should never attempt to do because when we remove the originator from the picture we're left with something that is only a mere fabrication of the REAL deal!

Seeking to LOVE God and others because He first loved me...

Rev Trev