1 John 4:7-12
God Is Love
Read the passage
7Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.
10And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The writer says beloved people should love one another because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The statement does not make every feeling of affection a proof of spiritual life. The letter has already joined love to truth, righteousness, and obedience.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This describes God's character, not a definition that allows people to remake God according to their preferences. Love is known by what God has done.
God's love was revealed by sending His one and only Son into the world so that people might live through Him. Love consists not in our first move toward God but in God's move toward us. He sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Because God loved us in this way, we ought to love one another. No one has seen God, but when believers love one another, God remains in them and His love is made complete in them.
John 3 says God loved the world and sent His Son not to condemn the world but to save it through Him. Exodus reveals the LORD as compassionate and gracious while also affirming His justice. 1 John does not separate love from holiness or sacrifice.
Families can use this famous sentence carefully. “God is love” does not mean love is whatever avoids discomfort. God's love tells the truth, bears a cost, confronts sin, and seeks life for the other person. It also means our love begins as a response to grace rather than a performance to earn God's attention.
The unseen God becomes recognizable through a community whose love is concrete, truthful, and patterned after the Son He sent.
Questions
1 Why should believers love one another?
AnswerThey should love one another because love comes from God; love is evidence of new birth when it agrees with the truth about Him.
2 What does the person who does not love show?
AnswerThat person shows that he does not know God, because God’s love is not an idea that can remain detached from relationships.
3 How was God's love revealed?
AnswerGod sent His one and only Son into the world so people might live through Him; love began with God’s costly movement toward sinners.
4 How is God's unseen presence made visible?
AnswerGod remains in believers when they love one another, and His love reaches its intended expression among people who make it visible.
What This Means for Us
God loved us before we loved Him. Let that unsettle the habit of offering care only after someone has earned it or returned a favor.
Take the first step in a neglected relationship: make the call, offer help or ask how the person is doing. Your action cannot atone for sin, but it can reflect the love of the Son who did.
Prayer
Father, thank You for loving us first and sending Your Son. Make Your love visible in our family through truth, sacrifice, patience, and care for one another. Amen.