“We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
If you want a healthy relationship with God, there must be a healthy relationship between you and your brother or sister. John understood this commandment VERY well and made a point in his letters to bring this message to the masses. When he says, “we love because He first loved us”, we see first-hand what the grace of God looks like. He didn’t have to love us – we didn’t deserve to be loved – but He chose to love us anyway by sending Jesus Christ to die for us.
Knowing this, that Our Father gave us grace when we least deserved it, how can we not extend that same grace to our brothers and sisters in Him? That’s how we demonstrate our love for God, by loving one another. On the other hand, when we withhold grace – when we despise, hate, and have unforgiveness in our hearts – we’re despising the very love God gave us because “whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
Who do you have to extend grace to? Who is God putting in your heart to love and forgive, whether or not they deserve it? We want to encourage you today to use the gift of grace to spread God’s love to others. Watch what a difference it will make.
Today’s Prayer
Father, I want to demonstrate my love for you by loving others. Help me to put this practice into action so that I may continually display love for others, not just in words but in actions. May the grace you have shown me abound that others may receive it as well. Thank you Lord, in Jesus’s name I pray.