Remaining in the Love That Remains in Us

John’s words in 1 John 4:11–18 draw us back to the very heart of the Christian life: love. Not the fragile, shifting kind we often encounter in the world, but the steady, self-giving love that begins in God and flows through us. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.” It’s both a command and a revelation. We love because we have first been loved.

John reminds us that although no one has ever seen God, His presence becomes visible whenever we choose to love. Every act of patience, mercy, forgiveness, or generosity becomes a small epiphany—God’s love brought to perfection in us. This is how we know we remain in Him: His Spirit moves through our lives in ways we could never manufacture on our own.

At the center of this passage is a truth that shapes our destiny: God is love. Not simply loving, not occasionally kind—God is love itself. To remain in love, then, is to remain in God. It is to live from the source of our creation and the purpose of our existence. This is what we were made for. This is where we are going. Love is both our origin and our ultimate home.

And when we live from that place, fear loses its grip. Perfect love casts out fear—not because life becomes easy, but because we finally know who holds us. We no longer brace ourselves for punishment or rejection. Instead, we stand in confidence, knowing that the One who loved us first continues to love us now.

To remain in love is not passive. It is a daily choosing, a daily returning, a daily surrender to the Spirit who dwells within us. But it is also the most natural thing in the world, because it aligns us with our true destiny: to become, little by little, reflections of the God who is love.

May we keep turning toward that love. May we let it shape us, free us, and flow through us. And may the world come to see God—not through visions or signs, but through the way we love one another.

Who do you need to go love today?