Most of us have a bank account, at least I hope most of us do. But have you ever watched the bank teller to see what they do? Bank tellers have a rather thankless job. All of that monotonous counting, handling those germy dollar bills, and dealing all day with people who are more than likely in a hurry. But of all the skills they need to have, one of them is probably the most important: the ability to identify a counterfeit dollar bill. Bank tellers have to look at a bill and, in a matter of seconds, observe minute details that tell them whether it's real or a forgery.
But did you know that to gain that skill, bank tellers don't go to school to study forgeries. They study the real thing. By thoroughly knowing the details of the original, they can readily pick up on anything that doesn't match it.
Now with that picture in mind let's talk about the love of God. If we are supposed to be people who live in the love of God, we have to know what His love truly is. And since God Himself is love, we have to know His character. But we know counterfeits are out there. Those are the people who may look and sound genuine, but they neither come from nor represent our God who is love. A genuine believer is someone who has been transformed by the love of God and loves as God loves. God takes the real thing seriously - and so should we.