1 JohnSample

Chapter 4 has a lot to say about love. What love is. Where love comes from and who we should love. God’s perfect love is unconditional. It is transformational. The scripture says it drives out fear. Living without fear is life-changing. Verse 18 allows us to examine our own relationship with God. Have we accepted his perfect, unconditional love? How we love others shows how much we’ve allowed God’s love to transform our lives. When we accept the love of God that has not judged us for our sins or made us pay the punishment for our mistakes, we can extend that same kind of love to others. These verses come with a lofty command while simultaneously taking the pressure off. We aren’t just supposed to figure out in our own strength, with our own goodness, how to love others perfectly. We have an example to follow. One of the things I have loved about following Jesus is that while he may ask us to do some seemingly outlandish things, he never asks us to do something he wasn’t willing to do himself. It’s hard to love others when they disappoint, betray, and hurt us unconditionally, but Jesus shows us the way. We love because he first loved us and gave his life for us without promise that we would reciprocate. Can we love others in a way that gives without expecting anything in return? I believe we can! We are called to follow the Jesus who loved first. Remember, leaders go first. Follow the leader.

Prayer Points

• Tell God that you want to experience His perfect love fully. Ask Him to show you the kind of love that drives out all shame, judgment, anxiety, and fear in your life. Thank Him that you don’t have to live in fear of the punishment of your sin because Jesus took the punishment for you.
• Ask God to help you see others the way He sees them so that you may love them with His perfect love.