Know & Rely on God's Love

What does it means to know God's love?

What does it look like to rely on God's love?

What is perfect love?

How does it drive out fear?

1 John 4:16-18 says:

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

John writes a lot about God's love and how our love for others is a sign we're in Christ in 1 John. But, I think these verses are the culmination of all he is saying. Here, John writes about God's love for us in a way that emphasizes how great it is, and also shows us that love changes how we live.

We can know and rely on God's love. While we may never fully grasp the magnitude of God's love for us, we can at least begin to know it. Scripture is pretty clear in how it shows us God's love. As we seek to know it more, we will continue to grow in our understanding of it.

As we get to know God's love, we can also come to rely on it. God's love for us will always be there. We can count on it. It doesn't change or disappear. We can build our lives on the knowledge that God's love will always be there.

This knowledge and reliance changes how we live in the world. Because we're no longer caught up in a desperate search for love, we're actually able to live the world and the people in it like Jesus does. John calls it being like Jesus in the world.

If we look at the gospels to see what Jesus was like in the world, we see a great example of love. When we get to know and rely on God's love for us, we then able to love people like Jesus did - unconditionally, looking out for their best, and seeking nothing in return.

Verse 18 has always intrigued me, especially the first part where John says that fear and love cannot coexist. When I take the time to think about it, I realize it's very much true. When we come to the point of knowing and relying on God's love for us, fear vanishes from our lives. We've become secure in our position as God's children. We know our identity and we're living from that place. That leaves no room for us to live in fear.

John also connects fear with punishment here. When we're living in fear, we're living feeling like we're waiting for punishment for what we've done. We're wondering when we're going to cross the line and bring punishment on ourselves.

This fear of punishment is different than the discipline that comes from real love. Discipline is about getting us back on track and is always done out of real love. Punishment is about being made to pay a price for your ways. It doesn't come from a place of love that is like God's love.

God's perfect love for us removes our desperation is our search for love. As we come to know and learn to rely on it, it changes everything about how we live in and love the world around us. It enables us to be like Jesus in the world.

The One in you is Greater

"You dear children are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4)

I've often heard this verse and found comfort in the truth that One in me is greater. That One being the Holy Spirit living in me.

But, I've often wondered why this verse says "overcome them"? Who is "them"? What does it mean here?

While the many situations I have heard this verse quoted in are times when it's still absolutely true that God in us is greater than power in the world, we've missed what John is saying in this verse. And when we see what he's saying, his word choice makes sense.

When we look at 1 John 4:1-6 we see the bigger picture. This passage is dealing with false teachers, with those who deny the incarnation, with those teaching deception.

When we come into contact with those who teach falsehood and are leading others astray, it can be quite intimidating. Somehow they have managed to convince people to follow them. This is why John reminds us of the power of the One who lives in us. That the One who is in us is greater than them - than the false teachers.

No matter what false teaching we face, we can be sure that the Holy Spirit in us is greater. We don't need to fear. We don't need to be intimidated. Jesus is greater.

There's reassurance in this. We're on the side of victory, even if the odds seem stacked against us in the moment. God's truth and His power will overcome the false teaching.

Our Call to Love Like Jesus Did

What does it look like to love like Jesus did when He walked on this earth?

How are we supposed to look at the people who also call the same place as us home who are very different from us? Even those whose lifestyle is one we may not agree with?

There have been some discussions happening in our society as a whole, and on a smaller scale in specific cities or neighbourhoods that have prompted me to wrestle with these questions again. In the last few weeks, I've been going back to the gospels to see how Jesus loved these people, to see what it should look like for me.

Before I write the rest of this, I want to be clear on one thing. While this post has been prompted by some recent happenings, this is not a political post, nor is it meant to become a forum for discussing the lifestyles of others that we may or may not agree with. I am not looking to discuss whether certain recent decisions are the correct ones. I will delete all comments that make this about that without notice, as that is missing my point completely.

As I looked at how Jesus loved in the gospels, I was struck by one thing specifically. He loved and treated people who were looked down on by Jewish society of His day in a way that was radical. He gave them a value and a place that they were not used to being in.

Here is just a quick run through of some of the interactions Jesus had with people who were looked down on in Jewish society:

• Jesus touched a man with leprosy when He healed the man. (Matthew 8:3)
• Jesus called a tax collector to be His disciple when He called Matthew. Tax collectors were looked down on by other Jews. (Matthew 9:9, Luke 5:27-31)
• Jesus healed blind men. (Matthew 9:27-29, 20:29-34)
• Jesus restored a demon-possessed man. (Mark 5:1-20)
• Jesus healed a women who had been bleeding for 12 years. He didn't condemn her when she touched His robe, although she would have been unclean at the time. (Mark 5:25-34)
• Jesus honoured the faith of an outsider and drove a demon out of her daughter. (Mark 7:24-30)
• Jesus brought a widow's son back to life. (Luke 7:12-15)
• Jesus honoured and welcomed a "sinful" women into His presence to anoint His feet. (Luke 7:36-50)
• Jesus healed 10 men with leprosy. (Luke 17:11-14)
• Jesus had a conversation with a Samaritan woman. (John 4:1-26)

In all of these accounts, Jesus had compassion on and loved these people. He took the time to value these people who had been rejected by their society, who had been made less than. Jesus lifted them back up to where they belonged.

If I look at Jesus' interactions with people who were looked down on by society, I'm challenged in how I treat people in my own world. I am challenged to be different from the society I live in. I'm challenged to love all people and to look at them through Jesus' eyes.

Rather than seeing only the lifestyle of people I come across, I choose to see the fact that they are people created in the image of God. We all are, regardless of what may be seen on the surface. And, because we're all created in the image of God, we're worthy of love and care.

I'm not advocating for no consequences or no boundaries in relationships. But. I am talking about choosing to speak the truth of the identity God gave people into their lives, rather than putting them down for what is obvious.

I guess, as I've wrestled with these questions the last few weeks, I've come back to one thing that I think is the starting place for where we begin to love like Jesus did when He was on earth. It starts with how we talk about and to people who have lifestyles we don't agree with. Our language matters. When we speak about the identity God has given people, we give them something to live up to. When we speak about the things we see about people, in sometimes derogatory terms, we give them nothing to live up to and we do everything but love them.

I know how easy it is to just use the common terms for different groups of people when referring to them, but, I do believe that, as Christians, we need to choose differently. We need to choose our language carefully, and choose to use words that speak life and truth and identity to even the hardest of those to love in our society.