1 John 4:7 – “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”
I’ve got a startling truth for you today. It’s one I want you to lock in on and use as fuel when you’re tired, weak or struggling to keep going.
Ready? It’s that you’re loved by God the Father. The Apostle John uses the word ‘beloved’ but since that’s a term from long ago, many don’t know it’s meaning. The synonyms for the word beloved tell us a lot.
Here’s just a taste of the names God has in mind when he thinks of you. Darling, dear, dearest, precious, adored, much loved, cherished, treasured, prized, highly regarded, admired, esteemed, worshiped, revered, venerated, idolized.
Wow – savor that for a bit. Cherished? When’s the last time you truly felt cherished? How about much loved or treasured? Most of us humans would struggle to think of such a time when we KNEW we were even remotely loved at this level.
Here’s the truth though; if you didn’t say “right now – at this very moment”, it’s because you’re not fully connecting to who God is and what he’s said about his creation. That includes you by the way.
Once we connect with the reality that God loves us and there is nothing that can or will change that – we can go one step further. We can (and must) love one another.
I read something recently, expressed by King David in his Psalms that really spoke to me because it explains so much. In verse 6 of the Message version of Psalm 31, he says “I hate all this silly religion, but you, God, I trust.” Other English versions use the word ‘worthless idols’ in place of religion but the meaning is clear.
Most of the world’s religions are created by people to give us rules and regulations to abide by. But we must remember that the Pharisees were super religious people too and they bound the people in chains of ‘duty’.
God, however, kept it very simple. He told us to do just two things and as a result, everything else would be ok. He said we must:
1) Love God
2) Love each other
That’s it. So, beloved, take this with you and marinate yourself in it today – you are much loved. You are cherished. You are adored. You are prized. You are treasured. By who? By God Himself.
All he asks is that you love him back and then demonstrate you understand the depth of his love by loving other people.
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