1 John 4:18-19 – 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.
God’s love for you is complete and all encompassing. God loves the parts of you that you love. God loves the parts you think you can hide. We can enter the presence of God as welcomed, well-loved children. We don’t need to cower in fearing like we’re waiting for a hammer to drop on our heads for the things we’ve done. Yes, some of the things we’ve done will have earthly consequences, some that might even involve earthly punishment. Thankfully, through Jesus’s sacrificial work on the cross our sins are wiped clean away and God will welcome us as his beloved.
God draws us into the kingdom because he wants to be with us. And through this we are able to love because he first loved us. Just about every word you have ever said is a word you heard (or read) someone else use first. Through the example of others, we are able to cobble together our first words and sentences. We grow and learn more and can put our thoughts and feelings into words we share with others. This is how we know how to love. God showed us how to do it first.
With this knowledge and experience of love we can show others what it’s like to have love and give love. With this knowledge and experience we can point people towards the source. The great preacher and theologian Charles Spurgeon once said that love without God is like fire without heat. It doesn’t make sense.
We know the love that we have received because we know for what we have been forgiven. This love should inspire us to share it with others. Go and show love to the world.