Let’s dive deeper into 1 John 4:11. I like the way the Message puts it, “My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us–perfect love.”
We were created to be with God. He walked with man in the Garden of Eden. But when man ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evile, we became separated from God. Sin and God can not co-exist, so God created a perfect plan to remove sin from the world for good.
In Old Testament times, God dwelled in the temple. This was as close to God that we could ever get. But sacrifices were required to atone for our sins. When God sent Jesus, he became the perfect and blameless sacrifice that washed our sins away once and for all.
On that day, the veil was torn, and there became a new temple, a new dwelling place for God, in those who accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
When we receive the Spirit, there are qualities that we will display: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We are also commanded to Love our fellow men as ourselves. Matthew 22:39.
When we display these qualities, we are displaying the love of God, and God is seen through us. He is seen through the nurses in the emergency room, the volunteers serving in the soup kitchen, the person who stops to help others on the side of the road, or the person who holds the door for others.
When I look at others displaying the fruits of the spirit, I see God, and the great love he has for us.
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