Devotion

Compelling Love

1 John 4:7 (NLT) Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

Let’s be ‘love honest’…if God were to love us the way we love each other, He’d kick us all to the curb, wouldn’t He? I mean, isn’t that what we do? We enjoy expressing love when things are good between us. But as soon as the ‘ease’ of expressing love gets interrupted… Later! Love isn’t always easy, and we sure don’t make it easy for God to love us. The attributes of Godly love – as written in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 – opposes everything that we allow to breech the love we are meant to give. We’re supposed to have the same boundless, bottomless, and everlasting love for one another that God has for us. And we can – but it takes work. Jesus helps us to grow in the ability to have compelling love for family, friends, and strangers. We can even have compelling love for our enemies… yes, we can! And here’s the thing – it’s not about whether they know God. Love begins with you and me. So, what do you think? Based on how we love one another – does it appear to you that ‘we know God’?