1 John 4: 7-12 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
I recently received a letter from a member of our church who shared that the reason he initially chose Enon as his church home was “…because of the love that was poured out onto myself and loved ones.” He then added, “I cherish the love I’ve received from my church family…”
Take a minute to let these words of Scripture and this church member sink in. The love described in 1 John, and that this church member is talking about, has nothing to do with feeling the warm fuzzies. The love God has demonstrated, and calls us to demonstrate, has to do with a willingness to sacrifice for the good of others. Just as Jesus sacrificed his heavenly riches, position, time and energy to show God’s love by coming to earth and dying on the cross for our salvation; we are called to spend physical and emotional energy, money, time, and whatever else it takes to show God’s love to the people He places in our lives. It’s not enough to talk about the amazing love of God, it must be genuinely expressed in our words and deeds.
More and more, when February -the Month of Love- rolls around; the “love song” that plays through my mind is this: “Love, love, love, love…the gospel in a word is love. Love your neighbor as your brother…love, love, love.”
Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” -John 13: 35–
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Tammy
