Loving One Another Series

Out of the last 16 messages out of 1 John, we have heard at least a dozen of them mention that we should love one another. I guess God figures we should never get tired of hearing it and definitely never get tired of practicing it. The 6th test that proves that we really love God, once again, has to do with loving one another.

But instead of rehashing the previous sermons, I want to look at 7 things that are proven by loving one another. These 7 things are mentioned in 1 John 4: 7-21. Loving one another proves 7 seven things. I guess this answers the question of why the Bible emphasizes loving one another so much. Here’s why:

1) Loving one another proves that we are born of God and know God. Read verses 7-8. When we love one another people see two things. People see that we are born of God. They see that we have the nature of God. They see that by our love. They see us doing the same thing that God does—loving people.

The second thing people see when we love one another is that we KNOW God. They see that we have been talking to God, learning about God and that we are doing what God says. When people see us living godly lives, they see us actually trying to take on the nature of God. Again, how do they see all this? By our love.

You know, the surest way for love to come naturally, is simply to care. When you care it shows. When you have compassion for someone, it shows.

Some of you may have heard about the 4-year-old boy whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man sitting in his yard crying, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”

You see, when we care, it shows. Our love shows from us simply caring.

Of course the opposite of this is true. It should be obvious, but John wants to make sure we get it so he says the person who doesn’t love others reveals that he doesn’t love God or know God like he should.

And you know what? It’s easy to tell the person who doesn’t know and love God the way they should. You actually decide that about people all the time and may not realize it. The person who doesn’t know and love God the way they should is the one who lives selfishly, discriminates, is prejudiced, criticizes, backbites, gossips, curses, or hates.

And you can just tell, can’t you?—if a person really knows and loves God. God blesses people. He doesn’t hurt and try to destroy them. And someone who hurts others purposefully and tries to bring them down can’t know and love God the way they should. So loving one another proves that we know and love God.

2) Loving one another also proves that we see God’s love. Read verses 9-11. If God loves us that much, it’s the least that we can do to love one another. The unbeliever will say, “The world is full of so much evil and bad, how can we be sure God loves us?” I’ll agree that we live in a world full of evil and bad things. Men commit all kinds of evil and at the same time they mock God and deny Him.

But through all that, God still loves man and wants to help to take care of man. We know the love of God because God sent Jesus Christ to cover our sins. And friends if God still loves us when we oppose Him and do things against Him, when we disobey Him and ignore Him—if He still loves us after that—then there is no person we should not love either.

No matter who you are or what you have done, God still loves you. And He has shown in the most supreme way possible that he loves you. And if God still loves us after everything we have done to Him, the least we can do is love one another.

3) Loving one another also proves that God’s Spirit is within us. Read verses 12-13. God is not known by sight. No person has ever seen God face to face. How then can we know God? God is known only by love, only by His Spirit who dwells within believers.

When a person honors God’s Son by believing in Christ, God takes that person and puts His Spirit into that person. God actually implants His divine nature, the Holy Spirit, into the life of the believer. And God’s nature is love. If that doesn’t shine through you as a believer you might need to evaluate your conversion.