HOW CAN I HAVE MORE LOVE FOR OTHERS? (9 OF 12)
Scripture: 1 John 4:7-21
This content is part of a series.
How Can I Have More Love for Others? (9 of 12)
Series: Authentic
Jonathan McLeod
1 John 4:7-21
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (v. 11).
SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION
Already in 1 John, the apostle John has stressed the importance of loving others. For example, he wrote in 3:14, ''We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.'' As John says, our love for others shows that we are God's children (but our love for others doesn't make us God's children). We know that we should love others, but how do we get the inspiration to love others?
[Read 1 John 4:7-21.]
INSPIRATION NEEDED
Many times, there are things we should do that we lack inspiration to do. [Give one of my unfin-ished projects as an example.]
Loving others (i.e., giving of ourselves to help others) is something we know Christians should do. John writes, ''Beloved, let us love one another'' (v. 7). Love is not an option for a follower of Jesus. Jesus himself said, ''A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another'' (John 13:34-35).
Our default setting is self-centeredness. We're naturally more concerned with how other people can help us than how we can help other people. How can we have more love for others?
God's LOVE provides the inspiration to love others.
GOD'S LOVE REVEALED
John writes that ''love is from God'' (v. 7). If we want to know what love really is, we should look at what God has done for us. Verses 10 begins with the words ''In this is love.'' (The NLT says, ''This is real love.'') John also states that ''God is love'' (v. 8). That's who he is. God is continually showing love to others. The death of Jesus was a public demonstration of God's love for us: ''The love of God was made manifest among us'' (v. 9).
God loves us so much that he sen ...
Series: Authentic
Jonathan McLeod
1 John 4:7-21
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (v. 11).
SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION
Already in 1 John, the apostle John has stressed the importance of loving others. For example, he wrote in 3:14, ''We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.'' As John says, our love for others shows that we are God's children (but our love for others doesn't make us God's children). We know that we should love others, but how do we get the inspiration to love others?
[Read 1 John 4:7-21.]
INSPIRATION NEEDED
Many times, there are things we should do that we lack inspiration to do. [Give one of my unfin-ished projects as an example.]
Loving others (i.e., giving of ourselves to help others) is something we know Christians should do. John writes, ''Beloved, let us love one another'' (v. 7). Love is not an option for a follower of Jesus. Jesus himself said, ''A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another'' (John 13:34-35).
Our default setting is self-centeredness. We're naturally more concerned with how other people can help us than how we can help other people. How can we have more love for others?
God's LOVE provides the inspiration to love others.
GOD'S LOVE REVEALED
John writes that ''love is from God'' (v. 7). If we want to know what love really is, we should look at what God has done for us. Verses 10 begins with the words ''In this is love.'' (The NLT says, ''This is real love.'') John also states that ''God is love'' (v. 8). That's who he is. God is continually showing love to others. The death of Jesus was a public demonstration of God's love for us: ''The love of God was made manifest among us'' (v. 9).
God loves us so much that he sen ...
There are 4544 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
