God is Love

In some of the very last pages of the Bible immediately before Revelation can be found three letters by John. The writing is in a similar style to that of the Gospel of John. The firstletter is a meditation on the Love of God; it is the sort of writing that is well suited for study at home.

One way to find the best from the writing and also to enhance our Christian living is to take say five minutes in a busy day, every day, sit quietly and read a verse or three in a group; then close your eyes and let the words wander around in your head. Each time, think around what it means to Love God; think around how God’s love for you makes a difference to life; think around how your love for God makes a difference to how you view life; think around how you may put the love of God to better support your relationships with other people.

That is a lot to get through in 5 minutes, so it may turn out to be 10 minutes. But, hey, this method has sustained Christians for 20 centuries; it is an approach that can support you in your Christian life.

Today’s reading from the first letter of John is provided below for ease of access and to get you started on the method. After a few days, when you have worked your way through the verses, there are two options: a) start this section again repeating the meditation; or b) meditate on another section of the letter.

There are so many memorable snippets in John’s first letter: It is a wonderful thought he brings out that “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” (verse 16). And verse 9 is at the heart of the Christian message - “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.”

As St Paul writes somewhere, “Think on these things.”

1 John 4. 7 - 21

7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.

9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.

10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.

12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us.

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.

15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.

16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.

19 We love[a] because he first loved us.

20 Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.

21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

The Revd Malcom France