Love God BY Loving Others

I don't think we should be paranoid, but I've been wrong before. John again opens the chapter by saying watch out who you listen to. Even just a few years after His death, there were many false teachers springing up. He tells them they can tell a false teacher (or spirit) by listening carefully to what they say. If they admit that Jesus was fully man and fully God, then you can trust what they are saying. This was a big deal then, many people were claiming Jesus was fully God, but were denying the fact that He was man because God wouldn't lower Himself to become a man. Today we have the opposite problem: people are willing to accept that Jesus was a man, a good teacher even, but He couldn't have been God. The problem is that Jesus Himself claimed to be both. So He can't be a good teacher if what He said wasn't true can He? Again, the key here is to know what Jesus said by reading the Scripture, and then you will be able to tell if the people who are teaching you are telling you the truth. Test everything, eternity is at stake. 

He then goes on another discourse about love. He reminds us that we have to love each other, or we can't love God. He says that I can't claim to love God (who I've never seen face to face) if I can't love my brother (who I have seen face to face). What does love look like? Check this out:

"This is the embodiment of true love: not that we have loved God first, but that He loved us and sent His unique Son on a special mission to become an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

That is love. Being willing to die for someone who doesn't even like you, much less love you back. This is the message of the gospel, not that we have a God who is trying to send everyone to hell, but that we have a God who loved us so much that He was willing to send His Son on a death mission to save us from it. If God loves me that much, it should change the way I look at the things He asks me to do. He doesn't ask me to do things so that I won't have fun, He asks me to do things because He has my best interests at heart. How do I know? The cross. How do I prove that I love Him? I do what He says. He says to love others. So I'm working everyday to make my priorities the same as His: the world. 

Enjoy the Journey