Seven-Day Practical Faith Blog: Living the Equation God=Jesus=Love

1 John 4:16 (all verses NIV) And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

John 14:9-10 (Jesus said) "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?"

1 John 4:20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.

These three Bible verses should sweep aside a lot of assumptions and habits. They should cause us to live differently.

You see, the atheists have it all wrong. Because God is love, wherever love is present, God is present. Anyone who loves is actually experiencing the presence of God, whether they believe in God or not.

Those who don't believe Jesus is God are missing something. When they love, God is present, and so is Jesus by extension. Anyone who loves experiences the presence of Jesus, whether they believe in him or not.

Christians who hate are liars, according to the Bible. To claim to love God and to hate others makes one a liar. Loving other people is synonymous with loving God. Since God is love, hate interferes with God's presence. If we hate, we're going it alone, without God's endorsement, because God is love, the opposite of hate.

This last paragraph should scare all of us who profess our Christianity. It's easy to veer into hate, especially when we see things we believe are counter to God's will or the Bible. It's also far too easy to hate anyone we perceive to be an enemy.

Practically speaking, what does this mean for us? First, our differing must come from a place of love. If we want to inject God into the conversation, use a loving approach, because God is love. God through Jesus Christ is automatically in the conversation when we speak from love.

Second, our view of others must be loving. We cannot hate them and claim to love God; the Bible rules out that option. Love is accompanied primarily by compassion, with mercy, forgiveness, and sibling-like affection thrown in.

I don't know about you, but I really have to change my thinking, change my speech, and change my actions if I'm going to live up to this scriptural standard. To put my faith fully into practice, I must perfect my love for others - even the opposers, even the difficult ones, even the ones who have hurt me.

If and when I do, God will be fully present with me, for God = Jesus = Love.

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