1 John 4:7-8

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

(v7-8, NIV)

Did any of you ever hear the song about these verses? When I was little we had this tape that had a collection of children's Christian songs. They had things like the butterfly song and the one about the man who built his house upon the rock/sand. One of the songs was about these two verses. The song was almost word for word. Actually, maybe it was word for word, just not word for word for NIV. Anyway, I thought that was cool.

So yeah. Back in chapter three, John was talking about love and about how we are to love one another. Then he went on to talk about testing the spirits in the beginning of chapter 4. However, we are brought back to this topic of love. Back in chapter three there were a few examples. We are not to be like Cain who belonged to the evil one. He murdered his brother, and we shouldn't be like him in his actions or attitude. Instead, we are to look to the example of Jesus Christ who gave us an example of love.

God is love. Love comes from God. It is from God that we receive love and are able to love. RIM makes blackberries. If you have a blackberry, it came from RIM in some way shape or form. RIM is the maker and distributer of blackberries. Even if you purchased yours from a retail store, somewhere down the line of business to business transactions, it came from RIM. In the same way, love come from God. You could even think of God as the distributer of love if you really want. If someone came around talking about this blackberry he has that didn't come from RIM, it might be a bit weird. You'd wonder where he got it and if it really is a real blackberry. Then again, he could be talking about the actual fruit, but I'm assuming he's talking about a smartphone. However, you might question if it really is a blackberry and you may wonder if it really is the same thing. Maybe he made it himself. If he did or got it somewhere else, then maybe it's a cheap knockoff that isn't quite the same as the real blackberry. In the same way, love that does not originate from God is questionable. It is not quite the same and may in fact be some cheap knockoff. It may look and feel a bit like real love, but it will be shown to be false.

If God is the distributer of love, there are certain people whom he gives his love. Or rather, there are only certain people that through God are able to love. God gives love and allows others to love. These who do love are ones who have been born of God and know God. These who are of God are the ones who love. It is through this truth that we can see another test. The opposite would be those who do not love. These who do not love do not know God. If they did know God, they would participate in the act of loving one another. Love one another.