One of the best ways to build a relationship with God is by showing his love to others.
A few of my favorite takeaways from the study of 1 John have been:
1. You have to be humble to ask for forgiveness, give forgiveness, and accept forgiveness.
2. Obedience to God’s commandments doesn’t save us. Grace through Jesus does. We obey commandments because of that relationship.
3. As a believer in Christ, the Lord has promised to me not to be fearful. That doesn’t mean we can make silly or stupid decisions. But nowhere in the Bible will you find the Lord telling you “Be afraid”.
4. Confidence is important as a Christian. When our brain departs even slightly from our confidence as Christians, Satan comes in. He is waiting for those small cracks in our lives where he can interject fear. In those moments, we need other Christians to help reboost our confidence.
5. Do the people you go to for advice give advice according to the Bible? If not, you are getting bad advice. If you’re in a hole, the last thing you need is another person in the hole with you … you need someone to help pull you out.
6. Our culture has love wrong today. What we think we fall in love with is not really what we fall in love with. When we allow the lust of the flesh to incorrectly drive love, we get a superficial love. True love means loving someone the way Christ loves us.
7. Christians should show love, not hate. When you hate, it hurts you more than the other person. Hate hardens our hearts to others preventing us from loving them the way God loves them. We have to be able to show love and forgiveness.
8. Love humbly serves, no matter how insignificant the task.
9. Challenge as a Christian … can we show love without being angry or losing patience? In doing so, we are waking in God’s footsteps.
