By David ReayMonday 8 Jun 2015LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read 1 John 4:7-10
7 Dear friends,let us continue to love one another,for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God,for God is love.
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love-not that we loved God,but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (NLT)
Some Christians worry that we might become overly sentimental about God,especially the fact that he is love itself. We rightly want to safeguard against seeing God as some indulgent grandfather or some ever benevolent Santa Claus. We want to remind ourselves and others that the Bible speaks of his wrath against sin and his utter holiness.
And that is all good and proper. But we need also remember that his fundamental nature is love,albeit not defined in terms of fickle and fragile human love. In our legitimate desire to not make him in our own image,we dare not lose sight of his everlasting and pure love for us. Our view of God,after all,determines much of how we live life and express faith.
These words of Dallas Willard are well put to all of us who speak of God and who wish to testify to him:
Is the God presented one that can be loved,heart,soul,mind,and strength? If the thoughtful,honest answer is; ‘Not really,’ then we need to look elsewhere or deeper. It does not really matter how sophisticated intellectually or doctrinally our approach is. If it fails to set a lovable God-a radiant,happy,friendly,accessible,and totally competent being-before ordinary people,we have gone wrong.
Your concept of God shapes all you do in life for better or for worse.
Blessings
David Reay