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Daily Devotion: 1 John 4:8

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1 John 4:8    "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."

How many friends do you have?  I'm not talking about Facebook friends. How many people do you know well enough to say they are your friend? How many acquaintances do you have? Hopefully you're stopping to think just now that you have many more acquaintances than you have true friends. 

A friend is someone that you have close interactions with to the point that you know their likes and dislikes. You pretty much know how they will respond to most situations.  You enjoy the same things, and spend a lot of time together.  You even begin to act alike.

Next, how many relatives do you have? In the past year, I have met at least two relatives that I didn't even know existed.  I met them, but I really don't know them.  I dare say we all have blood relatives that we do not know much about them and some we do not even know.

John is saying in our verse that if we do not have love for others, then we really do not know much, if anything, about God. We might say, well there are some people that are so contrary to me that I just can't love them. Let's see what we know about God in that situation.  "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8 ) Yes, we were contrary to God, yet He loved and still loves us. Jesus left this commandment for us: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:35)

Do I know God? If so, do I exhibit love in my life?

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