1 John 4:16-21
Americans are in love with being in love. We watch romantic comedies to see a couple fall madly in love with each other. We watch TV shows in which the main drama is the tension between people who don’t know that they’re secretly in love. Love is the reason why The Bachelor is in its 1,000th season.
St. John asks us to abide in love. What does that mean?
Abiding in love begins with God’s love for us in Christ. He loved us before we loved him, and he sent his Son to die for us to give us eternal life. That’s love. And it’s free. There are no preconditions, no membership fees. God gives it to us, because he loves us.
To abide in that love, we remain in Christ. In John 15, Jesus talks about the vine and the branches. When we, the branches, remain in him, we can bear fruit. We can love. To abide in love, we have to abide, to remain, in Christ.
When we abide in love, there’s no judgement. We have confidence before God, because Jesus died on the cross for us. We know that Jesus’ love gives us life. When we stand before him on the last day, we will be with him forever.
Because we have that confidence, we don’t have to love out of fear. People love out of fear all the time. We love out of fear when we love because of a command. We love out of fear when we love because of duty. Most of us love out of fear, though, when we love in exchange for love. Our conception of love is mutual love. But God’s conception of love is one-way. That’s the love God gives to us.