Our Focus

Love... yes, we hear a lot about it, but the Bible tells us that there is faith and hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.  And according to the picture above, taken from Facebook, love is the solution on which we are to focus.  Love, love, love... no, not just the start of a Beatle's song, but what it's really all about...

READ:  1 John 4: 7-8

Actually, the whole book of 1 John is a wonderful testimony to the love of God, and to the love believers in God ought to have.  In the 2 verses above, however, the author (the apostle John) really lays it on the line, so to speak.

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.  But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

John is saying that God wants us to love each other; well, actually God says He wants us to continue to love each other.  And why?  Because it's a neat thing to do?  Because it sounds good in print?  No, because love comes from God.  Love isn't just a feeling, something we think about with regard to others; instead, love is an action, a choice, and it means we need to understand why we ought to love.  And why is it that we ought to love?  Because it is from God.  Love doesn't come from something we do, but from the one who gave us life - from God.  God is the source of our love. 

John goes on to say that if we love, we are a part of the family of God and so we know God.  And... if we do NOT love, we do not know God.  Why?  Because God IS love.  Not 'love is God', which infers that love is what makes us feel good and warm and fuzzy, but 'God is love', which means love is good and perfect and right - my NLT Study Bible says, "Real love is like God, who is holy, just, and perfect". 

So what does this all mean?  It means that, if we really know God, then we will really know what love is, and we will really love as God loves.  Love is the solution to life - not that it solves all life's problems, but if we focus on love instead of all the things that are wrong or difficult or irritating or a host of other negative things, we will be looking at what is right and good. 

• How do you love others?
• What allows others to see God's love in you?
• What might you be able to do to make sure others see the love in God in you?

An even better question might be:

• What is your focus?

If it's on all that's going on around you, then perhaps you need a change of focus.  But if it's on God and His love in you, then you have the right focus, the one that focuses on the solution.  Remember, God IS love, and so when we love others, we are showing them God!

PRAYER
God, help us to always show your love to others, in our words, our actions, our life.
Amen.