1 John 4 Devotional

Love That Starts with God

“And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”1 John 4:10 (BSB)

John begins with a warning to test what people teach, because not every spirit is from God. The test is whether it confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (4:1-3). Believers need not be anxious about the confusion, because the One who is in them is greater than the one who is in the world (4:4).

Then John turns to the heart of the letter: God is love (4:8), and not as an abstract idea. God showed his love by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him (4:9). Love, John says, is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins (4:10). Our love is always a response. We love because he loved us first (4:19). That is also why mature love drives out fear (4:18). Those who are loved like this need not dread the day of judgment, and they are free to spend themselves loving the brothers and sisters they can see (4:20-21).

To think about: Where does fear still shape how you relate to God, and what would change if you started from his love for you?