1 John 4:7 says, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."
Have you ever felt unloved? Maybe you got ditched by some friends. Maybe your dog decided to sit on the floor instead of on your lap. Maybe someone close to you walked away from your life. Maybe you didn't get a tip that night. Maybe your car slid into the ditch and no one stopped to see if you were alright. No matter the extremity of your personal situation, we all have felt unloved at some point in our lives. And it sucks. Feeling unloved doesn't just figuratively suck, but literally, it sucks the life, the hope, the peace, and the love out of you. But, it doesn't have to. Not if we have love pouring into us.
The first four words of 1 John 4:7 hold a deeper meaning than you may think at first glance: "Beloved, let us love..."
The deeper meaning: We only love others to the extent that we have been shown love.
If we know that we are beloved by God, the creator of the universe, the One who sent His son to earth as human flesh to save our souls, it is much easier (and in fact, natural) to love others in the same way He showed love to us. In other words, we can only love if we are loved!
Maybe you're wondering why that kid on the bus is such a jerk to everyone. Think about it: maybe the reason why he shows little to no love is that he is given little to no love. If we have this mindset about people, loving the unloving (or perhaps I should say the unloved) might become a little bit easier. Sometimes (especially for me) it's easy to take things personally when people around you are crab gabblers. DON'T. Instead, if you truly believe that you are beloved by Christ, you should have no problem showing the crab gabblers the same kind of love He shows you.
1 John 4:19 says, "We love Him because He first loved us." Look to Christ as your source of love. Not your boyfriend/girlfriend. Not your dad or your mom. Not your BFF. Look to Christ. All people are sinners, and because of that, all relationships will fail you at some point. Christ is the Solid Rock that will never move, never change and never be shaken. His love for us will never move, never change and never be shaken. So look to Him as your source of love so that the next time you feel like the life is being sucked out of you, you have Him to fill you back up again.
My word for 2018: BELOVED.
I think it's important to have a word that can echo in your head and in your heart throughout the year. A word that can be your focus. It's so easy to get lost in all the commotion of life and to forget to reflect and learn from everything you may be going through. To me, the word BELOVED is going to challenge me to believe that I am unconditionally loved by the Creator. Not to just know this, but to believe it. BELOVED is going to dare me to look to Christ as my source of love instead of worldly relationships. BELOVED is going to cause me to love others with the same kind of love the Lord has shown me, no matter what season I may be going through.
What's your word?
-Kenzie
