Long title, but isn’t it true? God knew that. He sent His One and Only Son to prove, explain, show and live God’s love for us. Jesus Christ loved like His Father and magnificently SHOWED us how to love. His beloved disciple, John, writes three wonderful letters about love. We are going to spend some precious, meaningful time meditating on small bites at a time and be filled, once again, and over and over, with the knowledge of God’s love. Breathe in God’s love and exhale His love for others. Then, maybe we will be changed in the process. Mm.

The most difficult things to get straight in life are love and God. More often than not, the mess we make of our lives can be traced to failure or stupidity or meanness in one or both of these areas.

“The basic and biblical Christian conviction is that the two subjects are intricately related. If we ant to deal with God the right way, we have to learn to love the right way. If we want to love the right way, we have to deal with God the right way. God and love can’t be separated.” — Eugene Peterson

Let’s dive in…1 John 1, Msg:

“From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in–we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.” 1 John 1, Msg

“We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for wring is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!”
1 John 1, Msg

Wow, JOY doubled! Yes, we want this! Reminds me of the Psalmist who cried out, “Restore the joy of my salvation!”

Dear Heavenly Father, You already have our attention with John’s opening of his letter…Your Word to us. The more we learn of love, the more we will know You, for You are love. You and love cannot be separated. Yes, we think our joy is already building and growing to greater depths just thinking about it. May we be changed, transformed even, in the coming days as we read and become more like You and Your Love. In Jesus Name, Amen