Everyone Who Loves
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 John 4:7) It is impossible to express true love apart from God, and that may be a difficult statement to accept for some. But John presents a definition of love unlike any other; that love is strictly a God-thing, and anything that is not from God is something less than love. Our feelings may be passionate, sincere, deeply felt, and lavishly expressed, but if they are not of God, it is not love. John says, everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. This statement takes love out of the realm of human thought and expression, and places it in the realm of the spirit. In other words, God is love, and only those born of God truly express love according to His Person and His measure. . . . because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:5) If we can satisf...