WHO LIVES IN THE LOVE
1 John 4:16 NGÜ (German translation)
And ‘there is something else that gives us the certainty of being connected to God:` We have recognized that God loves us, and we have given all our trust to this love. God is love, and whoever lets love define him lives in God, and God lives in him.
Actually, John gives us a very simple recipe here. Let yourself be determined by God’s love, then you live in him and he lives in you.
“Determine” means that all areas of our lives are permeated by it and all our actions happen out of that love.
It is one thing to recognize that God loves us. But do we really trust that He does when our circumstances throw us for a loop? When one challenge after another overtakes us and His love seems so distant? When job insecurity robs you of sleep, conflicts with your partner just won’t end, or you feel completely exhausted after weeks of lockdown, home office, and homeschooling?
For the past few months, zoom calls have been part of your daily routine. And how unsatisfying it is whenever your internet connection falters or even drops. A meaningful conversation or a successful meeting is then impossible.
How often does your relationship with God feel the same way, unstable or even disconnected? Whenever we allow negative thoughts to occupy us, our circumstances to determine our actions, and we shift our focus to the storms around us, our connection to God and His love becomes “unstable.”
Peter could only walk on the water as long as he kept his gaze fixed firmly on Jesus. The moment he fixed his gaze on the storm, he immediately began to sink.
But if we manage to keep our gaze fixed on our loving Father, who loves us above all things, our perspective immediately changes.
John the Evangelist is a great example for us in this. In John’s Gospel, he refers to himself several times as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” In doing so, he deliberately directs his gaze away from himself and focuses on the fact that Jesus loves him.
I don’t know about you, but I love the sun. I love it when the sky is blue and the sun shines from morning to night. I love to let the warm rays shine on my face and soak up the light and warmth.
We live in the Rhineland and here, especially the winter months can be quite gray. Even this winter, there were weeks when it felt like we didn’t get to see the sun even once. And yet the sun was there every day, rising every morning and setting every evening. It is the same with God’s love. It is always the same, even if sometimes there are “clouds” in front of it.
God’s love for us is boundless. We will never understand how much God loves us if we do not realize how much He loved His Son Jesus. He loved His Son above all else and still sacrificed Him for us on the cross.
If we manage to speak this truth over and over again about ourselves and our lives, meditate on it and become aware of this love, this trust will grow out of it, which is described in today’s verse. Then we will not only realize that God loves us, but also learn to trust in every situation that regardless of all circumstances, His love is greater. There is a saying that when we turn toward the sun, the shadows fall behind us.
Only then will we be able to love ourselves and live in love. For we can only pass on what we have first received. Only when divine love fills us are we able to pass on love in our surroundings. And only then happens what John describes in today’s verse: Then we live in him and he lives in us.
Action Step: Choose a worship song today that describes God’s love and attributes. Our global worship team has written an incredible number of wonderful songs (here are a few favorites: The Passion, God is love, God so loved, Forever Reign, Love so Great, Love on the line).
Listen to this one song at least five times today, better yet on continuous loop. Meditate on the lyrics, the statements in the song and let yourself be flooded
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