Scripture
1 John 4:7-16
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 lives 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. (NRSV)
Devotion
Last week, I was blessed to spend time with my family in West Virginia and officiate the wedding of two dear friends in Kentucky. After the past year and a half of sorrow, this trip was packed full of blessings. Love just seemed to be flowing all around me. As I made the 8 hour trek back to my home in North Carolina, I found myself reflect on all the different ways that people around me had shown that they were abiding in God's love.
John states that love is from God...and that God revealed his deep and abiding love for the world by sending us his only Son. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus now loves in us...and we abide in God's love by loving one another as Jesus loves us. This is the task we have been given: to love one another...to love the world...and in doing so, to not only let God live our hearts us but also to let it God's love be perfected within us.
What, though, does such love look like? Well, here are some of the many ways I saw God's love active in the world during the past week.
Love is warning someone that they are doing something that will only end in tears...and still picking them up and comforting when they inevitably get hurt.
Love is dropping everything to be there for someone when they need you... and if you aren't in a position to drop everything, love is helping them find a person who can.
Love is making people feel welcome--be that welcome be made through food, a funny comment/invitation, or any number of other offers/actions.
Love is jumping into a situation and taking care of an issue before someone else knows that there is a problem.
Love is giving someone that special item that they deeply want but can't get for themselves.
Love is being the calm in the storm by letting someone get all their frustration out...and then helping them move forward.
Love trades voice lessons for help with errands so that both parties can thrive.
Love is reaching out to ease the burdens of someone who is struggling.
Love is being brave enough to start a new journey or even a new life together.
Love is having the faith to bless someone and let them go when God calls you to journey in different directions.
Love is encouraging someone to spread their wings and fly.
Love is worrying about someone and praying for someone...and then thanking God when see that those prayers have been answered.
Love is celebrating together with silly jokes and quirky gifts... and grieving together with cards and long conversations and just sitting in silence.
Love is telling someone how much they mean to you with not only your words but also your deeds.
Love is seeking true justice for those who have been wronged.
Love is seeking mercy and forgiveness for those who have made terrible mistakes.
Love means admitting we were wrong and seeking to make amends when we do the wrong thing for the right reason--or the right thing for all the wrong reasons.
Love is doing the right thing even when someone doesn't appreciate it...and admitting it when we realize that we didn't appropriately appreciate what someone did for us.
Love is staying away from people we really want to see if that is what it takes to keep them safe.
Love is spending time with folks we may want to avoid, because it was what they needed.
Love is a million and one other things...both large and small.
Love is from God. It is what makes it possible for us to live in God...to know God...to channel God for the rest of the world.
This week, I hope to keep looking for all the ways the people around me living into God's love. I hope that in doing so, I will learn to better abide in God's love myself and then share that love with others. Finally, I pray that you join me in this mission...for there is nothing better than to know and abide in God's love, and who seek to love one another as Christ loves us are blessed to have God's love being perfected within them.
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God.
Prayer
God, thank you for the gift of love...and for the myriad ways in which your love moves throughout the world. May that love move in and through us, so that we may know you and abide in you forever. Amen.
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