God's Love and Ours

This morning I woke up around 8 and went to the gym with one of my best friends from back home. As I got in the shower this morning before I left, I was thinking how thankful I was that Logan has worked out me me over the years. This dude doesn't even play sports anymore, yet he always works out with me when we get the chance.

While I was in the shower, I was thinking...I should really tweet something thanking him for all of the times he has gone to the gym with me when he didn't have too. When he could've been doing so many other things.

I forgot about the tweet...As I was reading through 1 John 5 I was trying to figure out how I was going to use this passage as encouragement today and then it hit me...

So in 1 John chapter 5, there is a passage about God's love and ours.

God's Love and Ours

Dear friends, let us love one another, for one 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. 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. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as as atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lies in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in hm and he is us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and reply on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love loves in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates as brother or a sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their bother and sisters 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 5:7-21)

Take a look at the last coupled of verses again. We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates as brother or a sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their bother and sisters 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. 

This is what I what I took away from the passage today. It would've been very easy to talk about God's love and what that is but that is not what I want to focus us.

I think there are a lot of people in this world who say that they love God...and then they say that they hate other people. I am a victim of that. I would like to think I have gotten better. I sometimes say I can't stand someone and I used to say that too much. It's so hard for me to listen people I know talk about how much they hate someone. It's totally wrong to say that. The scripture above tells you that if you say you love God, yet hate a brother or sister, you are a liar. AMEN!!!

It makes perfect sense too. If we talk about how much love we have for someone that we have never seen, how are we going to say that we hate someone that we can actually see.

The most important commandment God has given us is to love another another. Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and their sister.

So why did I talk about my friend Logan above?

Throughout middle school and high school, he was that kid who seemed to always follow me around. We were not very close at all, probably because I wasn't very nice to him. I tried to be friends with everyone, and some of my friends thought he was annoying so I kinda just went along with it. We always played all of the same sports together. We were on the same baseball teams and basketball teams almost all they way through high school. I think I might have been a little arrogant because I always thought that Logan wanted to be just like me and it was so annoying. When we got to high school, it got worse. I don't know why. I hate thinking about how rude I was. I wish I could take back all of the things that I said to him. It just always seemed like he wanted to hang out me and our group of friends and I just didn't want him too. The crazy thing was is that no matter what happened, no matter what I said to him or what my friends said to him, he was always right there. We was so determined to be great friends with us! Senior year was better, and I started to realize that Logan was a cool dude. As each passing year of college goes by Logan and I have gotten closer and closer. We may not talk all the time, but when we do, it's serious stuff. Logan is a way greater friend to me than I could ever be to him. After all those years of not treating him the way I should've he was always there for me.

Why did I tell you this? I used to be a liar. All of those years I claimed that I loved God yet I hated a brother. We missed out on a years of friendship because of me. I couldn't be more thankful now that we are close.

I share that because I know that there are so many people out there that can get on your nerves. Quite frankly, that is just the way that it is always going to be. Not everyone will be able to please you and you are never going to be able to agree with what other people are doing. That is battle that we will always be in.

The cool thing is, you can win. Try it this week, when we all get back to school. Or when you go back to work. Don't let Satan deceive you into thinking that you hate your brothers and sisters. Instead of talking bad about people, talk good. Instead of thinking bad about people, try to think highly of other people.

I promise you that once you start to love others the way that Jesus loved us all that your life will change. You will become so much happier. A big reason is because you aren't lying anymore! I have been trying really hard the past couple of months to work on this, and I have become a much happier person and my love for God has grown more and more.

Remember that someday, every knee will bow.

Love. Love. Love.