16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.
I don’t know if that ever happens to you? You read something and ask yourself “has that been added to the Bible recently? I am sure that wasn’t there last time I read this bit!” Well, for me – this was one of those Scriptures. I have read it many times but today I read it like I had never seen it before
And it was this part of the verse that jumped out at me. The love that God has for us is to be known AND believed.
It is one thing to “know” to that God loves you…but it is quite another to know the love that God has for you. To “know” doesn’t just mean “a mental knowledge”. The Amplified writes:
16 And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us.
Sure we have a mental knowledge but Christianity is more than just thinking that God loves you. Look at words used in the Amplified: understand…do you understand the love that God has for you…do you recognize this love? If you do, then that will have massive implications for the way you live your life today.
The word I like the most is “experience”. Whilst I don’t believe for one minute that we should be emotionally led Christians, I do believe, however, that each one of us should experience the love of God in our lives.
That experience may take many different forms and happen at many different times in our lives…but it should happen, and if our walk with God is sure and steadfast – it should happen often. Don’t seek the experience though, seek Him and the experiences will happen.
God is a powerful and loving God who is not afraid to show and demonstrate this love to us. We should be able to “observe” the love God has for us in our lives. We should be able to see it action. We shouldn’t just have a mental knowledge of it.
Of course the key to this experience is also given is this verse: “to believe”.
Many people just stay on the head knowledge that God loves them. But when you get beyond that and believe the love that God has for you, when that belief is so strong that it will cause you to step out and trust Him and your actions and words are governed by that love…then, my friend, watch out — you are in for a treat that is beyond comparison.
I know my wife loves me. It is not just something that I know in my head – but I have experienced her love to me on a regular basis. I also believe that love to the point that it has changed the way I act and do things. And she has my total trust.
How much more should it be with God? The starting point of faith is the love that God has for you.
And finally there is a subtle difference between knowing that God loves you and knowing and believing that love that God has for you. It is the love that cherishes for us.