1 John 4:11 AMPC
[11] Beloved, if God loved us so [very much], we also ought to love one another.
John, the writer of this letter, is referred to as 'the disciple whom Jesus loved'. It must have been a relationship that all the disciples knew and accepted, because there is no record that it bore any bitterness, except when John's mum tried to get the best positions for her son. Even as Jesus hung on the cross, dying from the pain and burden of bearing our sin, he still remembered to hand over his mum to this same John, so he could take care of his mum. Experience, they say, is the best teacher and one can only speak of something that they have personally experienced. John could speak of the love of God, because he had seen its impact firsthand in his own life.
Again, it is from personal experience that a life of impact can be made. I can only take from that which I have or know, to change the lives of people around me. A man cannot give what he does not have, and a man cannot exhibit that which he does not even know he has. That which Christ did on the cross is the foundation of all that I can receive. It is as a result of the sacrifice on the cross that it is even possible for me to think of showing the same love to other people. It is from the store of love that I have received that I can take from to impact the lives of other people. Think of it: Jesus did not have to do it, but He did so anyway.
He did it at a time that there was no guarantee that I would receive or submit to Him, but He did it anyway. If such a high price could be paid by God to secure my life, what excuse do I have not to submit? If He is not asking to pay the same price again, and all He asks of me is to totally surrender my life to Him, what do I stand to lose if I so do? God has given to ALL men the same opportunity to be reconciled to God, no matter how bad the past is. Money is not required; my circle of influence is of no use here; wealth will do me no good either. When I surrender, I receive the power to love and live the way He does. No one else can supply that which He alone can. He waits for you. God's time of favour is here.
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