Dear Friends,
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7
Jessica is drawing a picture. “Tell me about your picture,” her teacher asks. “It is a picture of God”, she replies. “But Jessica, nobody knows what God looks like.” says the teacher. “They will when I’m finished”, says Jessica.
How can we know God? John tells us in his letter. Love one another and you will know God. This is not the sweet, sentimental love of many a Valentine’s card (which I know are quite wonderful to receive), but love that works hard to care for the other, love that in John’s words is “not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” (1 John 3:18). Love your family members, love your church family members, love the person who is different from you, love the person who drives you crazy, love the stranger, love your enemy. Love.
May your life filled with love, filled with God.
In Christ,
Revs. Bob and Helen Smith
A version of this message first appeared in the Saturday, February 13, 2021, edition of Tidbits.
Photo Credit: “AGAPE kids releasing balloons in memory of all the other global AIDS orphans and sending love wishes”, on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2018. Photo attributed to AGAPESCHOOL, Agape AIDS Orphan Care in Hyderabad, India. licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. For more details, see the file page at the Wikimedia Commons.