Continuing to love: It shows we belong to the One who loves us

A devotional by Kathy McMillan

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  —1 John 4:7-8 NLT

As soon as Mrs. Johnson stepped out of her seventh-grade classroom, everything broke loose. She had explained that she needed to run down to the office for just a moment to talk with the principal. “Please work on your journals that are part of your English assignment for this week,” she requested. But the moment the door closed, the noise escalated. At first, there were just a few snickers, but before long, there were paper airplanes flying, and chaos reigned. After about 10 minutes, the student who was stationed as a lookout whispered loudly, “Someone’s coming,” as students raced for their desks. The door opened and the school secretary appeared with a note from Mrs. Johnson, which she read before leaving as quickly as she had arrived. 

“Class, I’m sorry this is taking a little longer than I expected. Please continue to work on your journal assignments. I trust you all will make great progress.”

The class was silent! It so happened that Mrs. Johnson was a beloved teacher, and the note she sent had quite an effect on the class. She asked them to continue working on their writing, but no one had begun. She trusted them, and they had let her down. After the secretary left, there were a few snickers, and the class clown started to act up but was quickly reprimanded. “Come on, let’s do our writing.”

I wonder if it was a similar situation when John wrote in his first letter to the early Christians, “Continue to love each other. . .” Anyone who knows anything about churches knows that Satan is working hard to destroy love and unity. Chances are pretty good that there was bickering and jealously, pride and disdain, slander and deceit. But John cuts to the heart of things. “Continue to love each other.” Perhaps they looked at each other, feeling guilty. “Continue to love each other? We haven’t even begun yet!” But they sensed that John had their best interest at heart, and they longed to honor his trust in them. Maybe that day they resolved to love each other.

It’s challenging to love. We struggle to show love to those closest to us — much less colleagues, church members, or even strangers. It’s far easier to focus on how different we are and allow that to drive a wedge between us. They look different, they talk differently, they act differently, and the real kicker — they think differently!

John’s message is clear. If we know God, we will love . . .all people . . .at all times . . . under all circumstances. It’s the most visible sign of belonging to the One that loves us!

—Kathy McMillan, MA, is director of Employee Spiritual Care for Loma Linda University Medical Center.