Why do believers love?
In my morning bible reading today I was in 1 John 4:1-21 reading about the power reasons that John lists why Christians practice love. I was reading out of the MacArthur Daily bible and I appreciate how MacArthur summarized verse 7-21. I'd like to pass along the essence of what John the author and Dr. MacArthur say about the five reasons why believers love:
1 - We practice love because God is the essence of love and He dwells in us.
2 - We practice love because we seek to imitate the supreme example of God's sacrifical love in sending His Son for us.
3 - We practice love because love is at the heart of our testimony, our witness.
4 - We practice love because love is our assurance.
5 - We practice love because love is our confidence in judgement. We love, not in order to escape judgement, but because we have escaped judgement.
I will confess I'm not doing such a great job at practicing love. It is a heart issue for sure; I'm getting caught up in what I need, want, seek (you name it). Lord, search me to remove my selfishness and let my testimony be Your perfect love. I can only love because You first loved me!
Philip J.
