15 If anyone acknowledges that
Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And
so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives
in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is
made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of
judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There
is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to
do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. –
1 John 4:15-18
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, if
anyone testifies that Jesus is the Son of God, if anyone witnesses that Jesus
is the Son of God, if anyone confidently shares to others that Jesus is the Son
of God, God lives in them and they in God.
What did John the Baptist do? Jesus said this of John, “Truly I tell you,
among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the
Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
(Mt 11:11) What did the greatest person
ever born of women do? He cried in the
wilderness, “Repent
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Mt 3:2) He prepared the way for Jesus by preaching
repentance. The Spirit of God was in him
and he preached repentance as his life’s purpose and work.
How did God love people?
He sent His Son so that people could believe in Him. People can confess their sins and accept the
perfect sacrifice of Jesus for their sins.
How then is our love for others demonstrated? We testify about Jesus. We tell others that if they will repent there
is salvation. Verse 17 says that this is
how love is made complete among us … in this world we are like Jesus. The famous quote from the book In His
Steps, written by Charles Sheldon in 1897, of “What Would Jesus Do” is a
good way of considering our actions. But
truthfully, if our action isn’t one that testifies about the purpose of Jesus
or that leads someone to know Him better, then it probably isn’t what He would
do. Every action of Jesus was a moment
of teaching or it was a moment to reveal the salvation of man.
What is the statement of fear about? Why did the writer John put a statement about fear just
after a statement of being like Jesus?
Have you ever felt the tug of the Holy
Spirit within you at some moment in time to describe or testify about something
of God, but has failed to do so because of ... fear? I feel pretty assured everyone has. At that moment, we allowed fear of rejection,
fear of being despised, fear of losing friends, fear of a change in our
lifestyle, fear of sounding stupid, fear of not knowing enough, or some other
fear, prevent us from following the love that God wanted to show to
someone through revelation of Himself. At that moment, our love was
not perfect. If we had truly loved that
person like God does, we would have been compelled to testify about God, rather
than fear anything in this world.
Today, let your love be completed and be willing to be like Jesus, ready to answer about the reality of who God is and what He has done.
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