We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister (1 John 4:19-21). Love is God's instrument for binding the world together. There are other attempts to accomplish this task. Some will try hate to unite people. Some will use fear. Both will work for a season or two. So will suffering and need. But love has enduring power. Sooner or later hate becomes self-destructive. And the causes of fear, suffering, and need eventually resolve themselves or fragment into self-interest. But love never ends. The ranch lands in Australia are so arid that it takes many acres to supply each cow with enough food to survive. In that far flung environment, fences are impractical. So how does the rancher keep track of the cows? The answer is water wells. As long as fresh water keeps rising from the wells, they do not worry about where the cows are. Sooner or later, they'll come back to the well because the well gives life. In this little letter, John returns repeatedly to the subject of God's love to us and our response to love as we have been loved. This love wells up from God's inexhaustible core. Sometimes we reduce God to the character of a ranch hand whose main interest is setting and maintaining fences that determine who's right and who's wrong, good and bad, in or out. But in John's letter, God's activities are not fence-tending. Rather, John shows us how God's love draws us together. God's love is the agent that gives us life, pays for our rebellion, intimately abides within us, perfects us, stirs up a spirit of boldness within us, releases us from fear, and sends us out as missionaries of love. The more we love as God loves, the more tightly we are bound to each other. Binding agents hold things together: eggs in cooking, cement and rebar in concrete, wax in paint, straw in clay bricks, and many binding agents in pills. But the greatest of these is love. Love is God's supreme binding agent. Love in any quantity counts. Even if we can't love a lot, at least love a little, and little by little God will free us from fear and hatred and even death. When fear and hatred rise in our hearts, we should turn to God asking to be set free. When selfishness impedes our capacity to love, we need to recall God's love for us. Daily, we must drink deeply from the well of God's love. As Jesus said, "Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34). So, as you journey on, go with the blessing of God: May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24,28 The Message).
