When I think of love, I get all Nicholas Sparksy. Probably it is less getting that way and more being that way. My notions of love come pre-mixed: love = passion, man & woman, romance, emotion, never-ending, forever-after, candles, and just-the-two-of-us. You might not be wired that way, but someone around you probably is. Then along splashes a verse like the first one in today’s lesson.
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. (1 John 5:1–ESV)
Ok, the first phrase, the one about believing Jesus is the anointed one of God does not produce any hiccups for me. Look at the lesson of 1 John 4:1 if you want to read down that trail. My hiccups begin in the second half of the verse. [Read more…] about 1 John 5:1-5>> Betterment, not burdens.