No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:12)
You may have heard it said that the only Bible some people will ever read is you. That’s very true! So the question is, What kind of God do they see in you? I hope that today’s message will both comfort and challenge you.
The greatest need in the world today is to see God. Now, we know that God’s nature is visible, for the heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1). Yet because God is love, the most profound demonstration of God will come through His love in us that we share with others. People will tell me that they just can’t seem to love others as God has commanded them to, so I go right to our verse for today and continue on to the verse that follows it: “We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13).
None of us by nature are truly loving people. Any love we demonstrate toward others is self-love; our ultimate goal is satisfying our own needs. And thus we are hiding — or camouflaging — the image of God in us, because God is love (1 John 4:16), but apart from a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, our love is directed at ourselves, not at others. But when God in Christ raises us from death to life, we are given the Holy Spirit, who begins the process of making us loving – a godly, sacrificial love that flows from a heart that is beating for the glory of God and the good of others . . . all others.
You see, when the Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, our camouflage is automatically cast off, because “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5). Now we are ready, willing, and most importantly, able to put God on display to the watching world. Our verse for today makes it clear that the way for others to see God is to see God’s love for hurting human beings flowing through our lives. This supernatural, Spirit-generated love loves at all times, with no thought of getting anything in return. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19); by loving others, we let the world see our loving God.
So . . . have you been camouflaging God’s love? Or are you putting it on display by loving others? This is a choice we make moment by moment, so we must pray continually that God will fill us with His love so that we can pour it out on others.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 