Walk in Love

I John 4:15 – 19 NLT cites, “15 All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. 18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 19 We love each other because he loved us first.”

I can’t help giving solidification to my posts on belonging by citing this passage from I John. It points to belonging to God and living with confidence. One of the things that comes with belonging to God is increased love – for God, others, and ourselves. Our love for and toward others is an expression of the love of the Father that is in us, lives in us, and flows out from and through us to touch the lives of those we come into contact with daily. Sometimes the walk of love is not easy nor is it painless. However, we can live with confidence, peace, and joy as we walk in his love. His love and its expression through us should not cause us to be fearful. It does make us more compassionate. It makes us more loving and giving. Lay aside fear and walk in love. How do we do that I can hear some of you asking? For each one of us, that walk of love is unique and intimate and is a journey of a lifetime. But I can assure you of this – as we commit to walk in his love, his love is perfected in us. His is a perfect love and it never fails even though outward circumstance wants to imply the opposite. Walk in love because you belong to the greatest family of all.