I bet you have a difficult person in your life. When I think about the difficult people in my life, one looms above all. I will be honest and say, it is very hard to love and care for this person. Let me say before I get too far, this is not a dangerous situation for me. It costs me emotionally, but difficult relationships do that to us all. There is a difference.
I imagine scenarios. I wonder if I could have said this or that in the moment. That THIS would be the turning point in our relationship and this person would see the light. Or…go away entirely. Just being honest. Conversations are taxing. Time spent is sad.
So I come upon these verses today and I realize it starts with me. Well, it starts with God’s movement towards me. And my response.
“Beloved, let us [unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves [others] is born of God and knows God [through personal experience]. The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.] By this the love of God was displayed in us, in that God has sent His [One and] only begotten Son [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind] into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [that is, the atoning sacrifice, and the satisfying offering] for our sins [fulfilling God’s requirement for justice against sin and placating His wrath]. Beloved, if God so loved us [in this incredible way], we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. But if we love one another [with unselfish concern], God abides in us, and His love [the love that is His essence abides in us and] is completed and perfected in us. By this we know [with confident assurance] that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given to us His [Holy] Spirit. We [who were with Him in person] have seen and testify [as eye-witnesses] that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses and acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”
1 John 4:7-15 AMP
Off the bat, how many times is the love of God repeated? At least seven times. Where does love come from? God. God’s love revealed through Christ and his sacrifice. God’s love remains in us. God’s Spirit given to us. The Father sent his son. Love. Believe in the love God has for us.
This is all poured out on us. And John adds here. Let us love one another. Repeated three times. Love one another. This is obedience here. I’m not saying doormat here. I’m saying, love expressed to others is obedience to the Father. My opportunity many times a week is to love my difficult person by asking God. How do I love this person well?
God remains in me. His Spirit lives in me. This love has to be guided because honestly, it’s so easy for me to have walls and be cold and distant. Sacrificial love gives kindness, even when I’m not feeling it. Praying constantly through interactions. Asking the Spirit to lead.
When I love sacrificially, I recognize and know God in my own life. In my own mess and pour. In our world’s economy, I don’t need to do this. But in following after Christ, I am trusting God for the outcome.
Broken hallelujah.
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