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Daily Devotion: 1 John 4:7-8

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1 John 4:7-8    "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.  (8)  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."

In the past weeks, we have looked at the subjects of hope, peace, and joy. This week we will look at the subject of love. I confess to you right up front that it is such a deep subject and there is no way we will cover the depth of it. I pray that my heart and mind will be able to simply meditate upon this wonderful gift of God's love that was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.

According to Dictionary.com there are 8 different Greek words for our word, love. Each one is a different expression of feeling for something. Some of the more common words are eros (physical love), philia (friendship), and other words that describe family love, self love, obsessive love, love of play or games, and the most wonderful word is agape or selfless, or self-giving, love. We throw the word, love, around quite often. The English language is really deficient in expressing our full feelings. I love my wife and family. I love to drive through the mountains, especially in Cades Cove. I love Southern Gospel music. I love sitting in my recliner in the evenings. I love a Snickers candy bar.

I wanted to begin this week with today's passage in order to remind us where true love originates. "Love is of (from) God." This is that agape, or selfless (self-giving) love that asks for nothing in return. We know love can be both a noun or a verb. Love is a thing that produces action. Love comes from God within us and proceeds to another. We will see the actions that God's love produces toward us and in us as we go through this week. My thoughts this morning are leading me to meditate upon my own feelings and actions. Do my actions manifest God's love within me? Can others see and experience God's love by the way in which I conduct my life? I confess I have so much farther to go, but my desire is that others will see Christ in me.

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