I was reading I John 4 today which I call the love chapter. I encourage you to read it in several different translations if you really want to get the picture of what’s being said here. We know that God is love and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God (vs 7-8) but how about this; how can we tell we’re walking in love?

Verse 16-17  So we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love. God is love. Everyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them.  If God’s love is made perfect in us, we can be without fear on the day when God judges the world. We will be without fear, because in this world we are like Jesus.

Did you catch that? Because in this world we are like Jesus. Did you know that the Father was in the Son? How could he not walk in love when Love was in him? Guess what? News flash; The Father is in us as well! He sent his Holy Spirit to live in us so that he would lead us into all truth. I’m not making this stuff up, it’s in the Bible, look it up! He loved us SO much that he gave his only son so that when we believe it him, we can be saved.

Wrapping up this love feast of a chapter, lets read verses 19-21; We love because God first loved us.  If we say we love God but hate any of our brothers or sisters in his family, we are liars. If we don’t love someone we have seen, how can we love God? We have never even seen him.  God gave us this command: If we love God, we must also love each other as brothers and sisters.

Notice the ‘brothers and sisters’ part, cause I’m pretty sure that John is talking to believers here. There’s a lot of hateful brothers and sisters walking around in the body of Christ who think that they love God but He was pretty clear in this passage of scripture, you can’t love God if you hate your own family.  I’ve seen men and women of God who get their panties in a twist because the pastor didn’t do what they thought he should and they leave the church, wagging their tongues behind them. Thats not love my friend. The way you respond to others (especially your own brothers and sisters) is the way you love God.

There are so many instances I could mention because I’ve ‘lived’ in the church since I was born, but lets stick to the point. How much do you love God and how much do you walk like Jesus? We call out, “Revival! Bring revival to our land!” but we need a revival of love toward each other. It’s going to be Love and Love alone that draws in souls, not finger pointing and the message of ‘REPENT! or you’ll go to hell.’ Read I Corinthians 13 if you want to know the fruit of love.

I believe with all my heart that the only thing that will change the world is the love of Jesus demonstrated on the earth and it starts in the church and overflows onto the work place and community. When we love like that, we will affect countless hundreds of thousands of people right where we live and we don’t have to leave our city to do it. Jesus’ greatest message was to love (Luke 10:27). Before we are a part of a great mighty revival that sweeps our land, we must first make things right with our own family in the Lord. I want to love like that!