1 John 4:9 – 10: The Life-Giver

I John 4:9-10 “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.”

I love my children more than life itself. I try to show that love by taking care of them, by keeping them warm and well-fed, and by doing special things that will make them smile. But as much as I love them, my love isn’t perfect. I mess up. I get annoyed and tired and grumpy, and sometimes, the way that I act isn’t consistent with the love I feel for them.

But God’s love is perfect, and His actions are always consistent with His character. He is always kind and generous. He is always compassionate, merciful and forgiving. His love never fails. The greatest way He showed His love was by giving us life.

As John has pointed out before, love brings life. God created us and gave us life because He loves us. But then sin entered the world, taking away our ability to live, for sin causes death. So, because of His selfless, loving nature, He gave us life once again by sending His Son to take death for us.

God loved us first, and He has loved us continually. We have done nothing to earn or deserve the kind of love He freely gives. He just loves us because it is His nature to love.

John wants us to know and understand God’s love, although it is really too great for our simple minds to comprehend. But it is only in our understanding of His love, however limited that understanding may be, that we can truly experience the abundant life of freedom that His love offers. Through Jesus, God has provided a way of escape from death – spiritual death, emotional death, even physical death – for one day we will receive new bodies and live forever with Him. We can live, both now and eternally, because He loves us.

Dear Father, Thank you for loving me. Please help me to understand and appreciate the sacrifice You made so that I can live.
Amen

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