Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. (1 John 4:7)

I love how John starts this verse… “Dear friends”, another translation reads Beloveds. How many of you have met a friend for coffee and said “Beloved, it is so good to see you, I will have a cappuccino please.” Even I haven’t done that! In his first words, he is already practicing what he’s preaching. John is modelling the love God desires for us to have for one another…beloveds.

John goes on to say whoever loves is born of God and knows God. Just sit with that for a minute. I think what John is saying is that if we truly are children of God, then we can’t hide the characteristics of our Father. Those godly characteristics are now woven into the very fabric of our being, it is in our DNA. Therefore, showing love to one another is a way of revealing who we are and whose we are.

Each Sunday as I make my way to pulpit to preach, I pray, ‘Lord may there be more of you and less of me’. This verse is a perfect and practical roadmap of the MORE of God. Loving those around me grants me a greater understanding of God love.

So, today would you make this your prayer?

God give me a deeper understanding of what your love looks like in my everyday life. And God would you be my help in keeping my eyes, ears and heart open to those who need to feel Your love today.