Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God (John 4:7).
When I first became a Christian, I read through the Gospel of John and was blown away by the person and work of Jesus. I remember thinking – for the rest of my life, I have two goals: 1) to grow in love for King Jesus, and 2) to love people. I remember reading John 13:34-35 and thinking that Christian living seems so simple – love people, and as we love people, those around us will come to realise that we love Jesus. I remember going to work and praying: “Father, please help me to love people today. I’ll be tempted to get grumpy or frustrated with people; please help me to love them like you loved me and sent your Son to die for me”. And this really worked. I loved being around people. I loved trying to connect with strangers and just bless their day. I loved sharing my faith, because Jesus had so radically changed my life.
But then, for some reason, the simplicity of loving God and loving people went out of my mind – and I became distracted. I became distracted by what other people were doing. I started to fear what others thought of me. I took my eyes off Jesus and the love He had put into my heart, and I became less loving – and more anxious, more grumpy, more frustrated etc.
Every now and then, God draws me back to the simple truths of Christian living. And when I mean He draws me back, I don’t mean that I forget that my role is to love God and people. It’s just that I get distracted and don’t consciously go out of my way to love people (to bless their day). But this week, I read through John’s Epistles (1 John, 2 John, 3 John), and it reignited my passion for loving people. And I can love, because:
v9 – God’s love has broken into this world through Jesus - In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
v10 – I have not only been saved by Jesus dying the death I deserve, but His sacrifice for me has shown me how to sacrificially love others - In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
v18 – I don’t have to be afraid of what others think of me. I can love freely, because there is nothing in this world that I should fear. I am loved by the Maker and Sustainer, King and Judge of this world. Therefore, I can love others, and help others to feel the love I have and do receive from God – 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.
So can I encourage you to join me to live out God’s plan for us. Let’s pray that God will help us be people of love – being grounded in the love that God first showed us, and reflecting that love to the people around us. Let’s pray that God will help us actively love people. Let’s pray through 1 Corinthians 13, and ask God to help us live lives that reflect His grace and goodness.
And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.* (1 John 4:21)
* the Greek word for brother here refers to siblings in a family. So just in case you were wondering, this doesn’t mean we are only to love our brothers, but also our sisters 
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