"love That Transforms” 1 John 4:7–10

“Love That Transforms”

1 John 4:7–10

Stand with me and hold up your Bible and repeat after me.

This is my Bible

I am what it says I am

I have what it says I have

I can do what it says I can do.

Today I will be taught more of the Word of God

I boldly confess:

My mind is alert,

My heart is receptive.

I will never be the same.

I am about to receive the incorruptible, indestructible, ever-living seed of the Word of God.

I will never be the same—

I'll never be the same, in Jesus’ Name!

Amen.

Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 John 4:7–10 and say, "Amen" when you are there

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

We live in a world full of likes but starved of love.

A world saturated with opinions but thirsty for compassion.

We know how to debate, argue, separate, and divide—but God teaches us something radical:

“Let us love one another.”

Not when it's easy.

Not when they deserve it.

Not when we feel like it.

Because “love comes from God.”

The world gives temporary affection.

But God gives life-transforming love—love that heals trauma, restores families, breaks addictions, mends relationships, and brings dead souls back to life.

John doesn’t just say that God loves.

He says: God IS love.

Meaning—

Love is not a mood.

Love is not a feeling.

Love is GOD flowing through us.

POINT 1 — GOD IS THE SOURCE OF ALL TRUE LOVE

John says: “Love comes from God.”

That means…

You cannot give what you do not have.

If you’re empty, stressed, bitter, or wounded…

God doesn’t condemn you—He invites you.

Think of a lamp.

It doesn’t glow unless it’s plugged in.

You can shake it, scream at it, polish it—but without a power source, no light shines.

We are the same.

We don’t produce love—

We receive it, then release it.

Let me ask you a few questions.

“Have you been trying to love people out of your own strength?”

“Have you been trying to forgive using your own willpower?”

“Have you been trying to restore relationships without God’s help?”

Let the Holy Spirit work.

A pastor once held up a cup and said:

“Whatever fills you is what spills out of you.”

If anger fills you, anger spills out.

If fear fills you, fear spills out.

If love fills you—

Love spills out in every direction.

POINT 2 — KNOWING GOD IS REVEALED BY HOW WE LOVE

John says something shocking:

“Whoever does not love does not know God.”

He doesn’t base spiritual maturity on:

Church attendance

Bible knowledge

Worship style

Gifts

Tithes

Titles

Miracles

Positions

He bases it on love.

You can sing like an angel…

Preach like a prophet…

Serve like a soldier…

But if love is missing, God says:

“You don’t really know Me yet.”

“When people experience YOU… do they experience GOD?”

“When you walk into a room—does love walk in with you?”

In a small town, there was an elderly woman known as “Miss Betty.”

She prayed for people in grocery stores.

She baked bread for lonely widows.

She invited new families for dinner.

She gave rides to single moms.

When she died, the city hall overflowed.

People said, “I never met Jesus face-to-face, but when Miss Betty hugged me, I felt like I did.”

Why?

Because Miss Betty knew God.

And she showed God through her love.

POINT 3 — GOD SHOWS HIS LOVE THROUGH SACRIFICE

Verses 9–10 tell us HOW God loved us:

He sent His Son.

Love is not just words.

Love is sacrifice.

God Didn’t Send:

An angel

A prophet

A message

A text

A sermon

He sent His only Son.

Not when we loved Him…

But when we were sinners, rebels, and enemies.

A missionary in Africa once told the story of a father who lived near a dangerous cliff.

He saw two boys playing near the edge—his own son and a neighbor child.

Suddenly the ground gave way, and both boys fell.

He could only reach one.

His son cried out,

“Daddy, save him! Save my friend!”

The father saved the neighbor boy…

And his own son fell to his death.

People asked, “How could you make that choice?”

The father said, “Because that’s what God did for me.”