Fw: the "other" love chapter

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 5, 2017 7:28 AM
Subject: the "other" love chapter

1 Corinthians 13 generally pops into mind as the "love" chapter in the Bible...and it is!  But check out 1 John 4:7-21.  The word love (or loves or loved) shows 24 times in 15 verses.  Really the entire Gospel is expressed in this passage and it centers on God's love for us.  This is the location of the explicit statement: "God is love".  See verses 8 and 16.  Love was the motivation for God sending His only Son to give us life.  The passage instructs us that we should love one another because God first loved us.  In fact the evidence that we have believed in God's great gift through Jesus is that we demonstrate love.  As God has now come to live within us He expresses His nature through our personalities and it shows up as love.  The apostle John makes the point here that we cannot see God with our eyes but we see Him in the love He showed for us and in the love we share with each other as a result of Him first loving us.  Not only is this love evidence of God living within us...it delivers us from fear and provides confidence that we will stand in the day of judgment!  If you are wondering if you have truly believed in Jesus for your salvation...do you find a heart of love within toward others?

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1 John 4:21 "And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."

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blessings,

Rob Smith