This is Love.

What if there was a group of people that saw the good in you, that hoped and wanted the good for you, and that was good to you?

What if such a group never truly attained these objectives consistently, but simply aspired to live by them? That group could be called brotherhood, church, parents, relatives, friends, co-workers, teachers, doctors and even strangers.

The reality is that this group can and will turn on its members and those they serve at anytime whenever one falls short of rising above some set of expectations.

Church is not about what we want to see for ourselves, regardless of how strong or how bad we want it. The church of Christ will always have as sole objective to rejoice in the testimony of God’s love for all humanity, regardless of how easily such objective can be forgotten. It has never been about we want, even when allowed. It’s always of what God wants. “Not my will (as a human), but Thine (as the all-knowing, all-powerful, eternal God)” said Christ to His Father, our Father by Grace through Faith.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

“This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 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 completeamong us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

“We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” said John by Grace through Faith. (1 John 4:7-21)

This is Love.