LOVE AND GODLINESS II
MEMORISE: He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 1 John 4:8
READ: 1 John 4:7
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
MESSAGE
Verse 8 of our text which is our memory verse, says: "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (1 John 4:8). This Scripture implies that not all people we find in Church know God or can be trusted. The early Church leaders did not take the issue of love lightly because they knew godliness is tested by the amount of love a believer possesses. Paul the Apostle prayed thus:
And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
I Thessalonians 3:12-13
It takes love to be godly because God is love. This love made Him give up His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for us so that we would not perish (John 3:16 and 1 John 4:9). This is the standard that the Almighty God has set for those who claim to be His children. Love makes people go the extra mile in helping others. Jesus commended the good Samaritan in Luke 10:33-37 because the proof of God in us is doing good. Our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated this as recorded in Acts 10:38:
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
James the Apostle describe love in practical terms when he wrote: "Yea, a man may say Thou hast faith, and l have works: sheweth me thy faith without thy works, and l will show thee my faith by my works" (James 2:18). The proof of godliness is service to humanity, according to 2 Timothy 2:21. John 15:9 also says:
As the Father hath loved me, so have l loved you: continue in my love
It is a divine commandment for all children of God to continue in His love. Are you living in the love of Christ?
PRAYER POINT
Father please fill me with every good work and let me reflect Your love to the world.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 29-31
HYMN 13: JESUS LOVES ME THIS I KNOW
1 Jesus loves me, this I know,
for the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to him belong;
they are weak, but he is strong.
Refrain:
Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.
2 Jesus loves me he who died
heaven's gate to open wide.
He will wash away my sin,
let his little child come in. [Refrain]
3 Jesus loves me, this I know,
as he loved so long ago,
taking children on his knee,
saying, "Let them come to me."
