Faith in God is based on who God is.
The phrase ‘God is love’ is so short and simple, yet so easy to misunderstand. John, who stresses this aspect of who God is, helps us to find both how that love is expressed and the consequence of that love.
As God is love, we see this first in the sacrifice of Jesus and then embrace the reality that this is the first love. This is the source of love and so should inform us how to live as how to love.
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. (1 John 4:15-17)
Just as an expected reflection of God in believers is holiness, so faith in God inspires a reliance on first love and a reflection of that in how we engage with others.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 