Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

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This morning I’m going to encourage you to stop practicing random acts of kindness. You must be thinking, “Where is he going with this?” In our love for one another, we’re to follow God’s example of love towards us. God’s love toward us is anything but random. We, therefore, ought to be intentional about loving the people around us.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:7-12)

This passage paints a picture of what perfect love is. John describes perfect love in four ways:

1. Perfect love is from God.
2. Perfect love is God.
3. Perfect love is shown to us by what Christ did for us on the cross.
4. Perfect love is shown through us when God abides in us.

Perfect love is from God (v. 7b). God is the source of all love. Every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17a). We would not know what love is had God not shown us what love is. Every act of love that we perform is not from ourselves, but is from God. It is God working through us. Even those who don’t believe in God reflect the love of God when they show true, real love. When an unbeliever loves their child, we still see a reflection of God’s love for us in that. When an unbeliever shows kindness to the poor, we still see in that, at least in small part, a reflection of what God did for us on the cross.

Perfect love is God, or rather, God is perfect love (v. 8b). In our world today, love has been so distorted that to tell someone that God is love may lead to many misunderstandings about who God is.

God is not like the love that we often see in movies. “Gone With the Wind” is one of the most classic love stories of all time, but you’ve got to be kidding me! Scarlett’s love for Rhett was selfish, rude, on again, off again, and completely narcissistic! And Rhett’s love for Scarlett wasn’t much better! I mean, he leaves her in the end! Or take “The Sound of Music,” another classic love story, right? Love is all songs and no substance! Captain Von Trapp was about to marry a woman who he was supposedly in love with, but then drops her when someone with a better voice comes along. And don’t even get me started with “Romeo and Juliet.”

But God’s love is perfect. His love is not random, but planned. God’s love is burning hot, full of passion, never failing, always pursuing you specifically, not randomly. God’s love is not like television love, it is far greater. Neither is God’s love like the stereotypical love of the 70’s. God is not tolerant of false religions. I often hear people say, “If I were God, I’d let everyone into Heaven.” No you wouldn’t. Because if you were God, then you’d be all wise, all righteous, full of justice and wrath, and you’d do things exactly as the true God would do them. Just because we don’t understand God’s actions at times, doesn’t mean we’re right and he’s wrong. We should not define God by how we understand love, rather we should define love by how we understand God.

God sets the standard for what perfect love is. In order to understand perfect love, we need to watch how God loves.

Perfect love is shown to us by what Christ did for us on the cross (v. 9-10). Christ died for us. He died for me, and He died for you. That’s what love does. Love is about sacrifice. But it wasn’t a random sacrifice. It was planned and it served a purpose. Christ’s sacrifice for you and me was for our sins. Because we’ve sinned and broken God’s law, we all deserve death and eternal separation from God. But then since God is love, God said, “No!” I don’t want you to be separated from me for all eternity. I don’t want you to go to Hell. So He sent His Son, His perfect Son, to die for your sins, so that if you place your trust in Him, God will accept Christ’s death as payment for your sins. When you do that, the Spirit of God comes and abides in you (v. 12-13). He changes you. If God and His love now abide in you, you will love as God loves.

Perfect love is shown through us when God abides in us (v. 7). Whenever you see that phrase “let us” in the Bible, a couple things are usually going on. We are being released to do something that is good which we were unable to do before God’s Spirit came into our lives. We’re free in Christ! In this case, we are released to truly love one another. We are also challenged to press on and pursue that which is good. Love is a good thing, so let’s do it (v. 11). But let’s be intentional about it. Don’t be random in your love as if it were of no importance. God’s love toward you is not random.

Anyone who does not know this love, does not know God (v. 8). If you’re lacking this perfect love in your life, it could be pointing to your need for the Savior. The answer isn’t to try harder, to try to be more loving, it’s to rely upon Jesus, and invite the Holy Spirit into your life to change you.