I JOHN tongue, but in deed and in truth." Kind and comforting words are not condemned. We need to speak with sympathy and accompany our statements by helpful and heart warming deeds. Apart from a personal experience of God's love for us there can be no expression of that love through us (I John 4:19). This verse could be best translated, "As for us, let us be loving because He Himself first loved us." This emphasizes the fact that His love awakens within us a responding love to be dis played on behalf of others. It is not that we love out of a sense of grat itude because of His love for us. Rather, we are enabled to love be cause He first loved us. This is how we can love all of God's dear chil dren. It is certainly not because their human personalities are love ly or loveable. This is why the Holy Spirit directed John to write, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (I John 4:20). There is no room for shal low professionalism. For a man to say that he loves the Lord and not show love to his wife, or his chil dren, or others around him, is hy pocrisy. In every child of God the Holy Spirit dwells. When we are born again we become recipients of God's nature. Our bodies become temples or shrines for Divine resi dency. There should be no room for hatred and animosity to breed or take root. Such reactions are in compatible to truth. This is why the Bible tells us that while we can say that we are in the light, yet if we have any hatred in our hearts, we
are in darkness even now. It is pos sible for an individual to be a mor ally good person and yet still not be saved. Do not ever say that you belong to God if you do not have love for others. There is no middle path. Is your profession toward God a contradiction of your con duct toward others? I can remember in my own life how that it was easier for me to love God because all I ever knew about Him was good. At the same time, I could see flaws, faults and unattractiveness in other people. Then one day the Lord made it clear to me that if I do not love others whose failure and unattrac tiveness I can see, it proves the love of God is not in me. When any Christian is keeping the Word of God (I John 2:5), he is repro ducing in his life that which the Holy Spirit would desire. The fact is that love is carried forth to per fection in obedience (I John 4:12). While it is impossible for any human being actually to see God, yet we may be sure of His pres ence in us if we love one another. This is a manifestation of such love perfected in us. Love is never static for it is always something ever growing (I Thessalonians 3:12). The cause of our love being perfected is our abiding in Him. There is no possibility of the co-existence of perfect love and fear (I John 4:18). The Christian who maintains a Spir it-filled life will have no fear of ever being penalized when the re wards are distributed, or withheld as the case might be, at the judg ment seat of Christ. This is why we do not need to view the future in terror with the slightest apprehen sion. When love excels in the life of a Christian it leaves nothing to
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