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If you were to describe God with just one word, what word would you choose? Why?

1 John 4:7-8 says: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know love because God is love.

Love is a deeply important thing to God and a life in God. In fact, it is everything to God, seen by his commandments (to love him and love others) and seen in the sacrifice of his son on the cross.

Love for your brothers is shown as a proof of fellowship with God (1 John 2:7-11); then it is presented as proof of sonship (1 John 3:10-14). In the former passage, love for brothers is presented as a matter of light or darkness. In the latter, it is seen as a matter of life or death.

The nature of God is love, and a person who knows him will respond to God's nature. A believer's love for the brothers will be proof of their sonship and fellowship.

Saying "God is love" doesn't mean that love is God, and the fact that two people love each other doesn't mean that their love is necessarily holy. As is said, "Love does not define God, but God defines love." His love is a holy love and his holiness is expressed in love. Even his judgments are measured out in love and mercy (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Since God is love, and we claim to have a personal relationship with him, we much reveal his love in how we live. A child of God has been "born of God" and there for they share God's divine nature. Since "God is love" Christians ought to love one another.

Not only have we been "born of God" but we also "know God." In the bible, the word know has a much deeper meaning than simply intellectual acquaintance or understanding. To know God means to be in a deep relationship to Him to share his life and enjoy his love. This knowing is not simply a matter of facts,it is a matter of perceiving truth.

We must understand "anyone who does not love does not know God" (1 John 4:8). Certainly many non-Christians love their families, but these people also lack a relationship with God. 1 John 4:8 can be paraphrased, "The person who does not have this divine kind of love has never entered into a personal, experiential knowledge of God. What he knows is in his head, but it has not gotten to his heart.

A person who claims he knows God and is in union with him must be personally affected by this relationship. A Christian ought to become what God is, and God is love.

Learn more about this author, A. South.
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