“This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.” 1 John 5:2 NIV
John is at pains to show that we cannot divorce love for God from love for your brother and sister, and vice versa. If there is evidence that a person is a child of God through the new birth, then they are my brother and sister, even if we disagree with them about certain doctrinal matters. We must accept them, just as Christ accepted us (Romans 15:7). Our motive for loving the children of God should be genuine love for God in obedience to His commandments. In other words, the reason we love others should not be natural factors, whether in them or in us. Rather, we are doing it to please God in obedience to His Word. Genuine love for others must be defined by obedience to God’s commandments, not by cultural definitions of love. For example, our culture would say that if a someone falls into serious sin, the loving thing to do is to be nice and overlook their sin. To call it sin or try to correct the sinner would be judgmental and unloving; but to show genuine love to a sinning brother and sister, we must love God and obey His commandments. This means going to the sinner in love to try to get them to repent. It means showing them that Jesus Christ is ready to forgive and give victory over this sin. Anything less than this is not biblical love, either for God or for the sinning believer.
PRAYER THOUGHT
Lord as You have loved me, let me love others in the same way.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord, let the impact of the love that You have for me be expressed through the power of Your Holy Spirit, as I love others. AMEN
I.B.R.A. Readings
Romans 8:18-25
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