God is Love
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. 1 John 4:7-8
God is love.
How is this different from saying God is loving? Think of it like this: White is white. A sheet of paper is white, but if that paper were left outside in the garden where the sun scorched the edges and the dirt was ground into the fibers, that paper would not be as white as it had been. Paper that is white can become less white. But white can never not be 100% white.
I can be loving. But due to the circumstances I’m in, or because of my own sinful nature, I can also be unloving and selfish. I’m like the paper.
But God can never not be 100% loving.
He is love in the same sense that white is white. There is nothing, either within Him or outside of Him, that can ever make Him less loving.
Because of this, all the love we experience originates in Him. Love exists because of Him. And anything that isn’t loving is outside of Him. So when we are loving, we reflect God well. When we aren’t, our own sin shows through instead.
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. John 13:35
Reflect God well by loving others intentionally.
Keep Seeking the Kingdom!
Heather Penner
Youth Ministries Director
