Here at Advent we use the motto, Love is why we are here. We will often fall short in this quest but it is certainly our goal to live by.  This idea is not unique to us at all.  The old Christian hymn, they will know we are Christians by our Love, utilizes this idea and I John 4:7-16 talks about the same thing.  Let’s look at it together today.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

A Christian is quite simply a follower of Christ.  As followers of Christ we are called to love like He demonstrates love.  God is the source of love.  Jesus gave us the example of love and now we are called to bring that love to the world.  Today and every day make it a point to reach out and show love to someone in an intentional way.  A quick text, a note, an act of service to help someone, maybe even a tiny gift.  You never know how God may use your small act of love to encourage another person. 

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave