John

December 26

1 John 4:9-10, 16-18

God is love

“This is how God showed His great love for us,” John wrote to the believers. “He sent His one and only Son to earth so that we could have eternal life through His death.”

This is real love—not the love we have for God, but the love He showed us by sending Jesus to take the punishment for our sin, so that God’s holy anger would be turned away from us.

God is love. Anyone who lives a life of love lives in God, and God lives in them. When we live this way, God’s love in us becomes strong and complete, and we won’t be ashamed when we stand before Him on the day of judgment.

We don’t need to be afraid of someone who loves us perfectly, because fear is about punishment. A person who is still afraid of being punished hasn’t yet understood God’s perfect love.”

What does it mean ‘to fear God’?

How do you feel when you’ve done something wrong and know you’ll be punished for it? How do you feel when someone is angry with you and shouts at you?

Sometimes we feel guilty, and even afraid of God, when we’ve done something we shouldn’t have. Because we feel guilty, it is hard for us to imagine how God would still love us just the same. And because we doubt God’s love we become afraid of Him. We may even imagine that God will take something away from us, or make us sick, or punish us in some way. 

When the Bible talks about fearing God, it doesn’t mean we should be scared of Him, but that we should respect His awesome holiness.

If God sent His only Son to die so that you could be forgiven, why would He punish you if you’ve asked Him to forgive you?

Verse for today

But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love. Psalm 33:18