SCRIPTURE:
Though you have not seen him, you love him. (1 Peter 1:8)
OBSERVATION:
Peter makes a very direct statement, "...you love him". He is speaking of loving Jesus. He doesn't say "you like him" or "you respect him" or "your cool with him" or "your learning to love him". He says "you love him". Even though his readers have not seen Jesus, they love him. One of the 1st things that happens when someone becomes a Christian is that they come to love Jesus!
Christians are people who love Jesus, even though they "have never seen him". Why do they love Jesus? The rest of verse 8 tells us:
"Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
Jesus causes Christians to "rejoice with joy that is inexpressible" and be "filled with glory", because they know the outcome is the salvation of their souls! In other words, we love Jesus(though he loved us first) because he saves our souls and that causes great joy!
APPLICATION:
Do you love Jesus? It might sound like a rude question to ask, but even Peter was asked this very question 3 times. Has Jesus saved your very soul? Have you been given the gift of salvation? You can tell someone has truly been born again because they have a great love for their Savior Jesus. They talk about him, they think about him, they read about him, they obey his commands with joy, they talk to him and they are even willing to suffer for his name.
"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." -Jesus (Matthew 10:37)
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." -Jesus (John 14:21)
PRAYER:
Dear Lord Jesus, I love you but you loved me first! Amen!
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