12No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. [simple_tooltip content=’7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19 We love Him because He first loved us.
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.’](1 John 4:7-21)[/simple_tooltip]
Dyslexia is a condition that causes a person to see things backward. For instance, the word G-O-D looks like D-O-G to a dyslexic person. This can be a serious problem because there’s a big difference between God and a dog.
Spiritual dyslexia is found in religious people, causing them to see the truths of God backward. Religious people believe everything happens because of them, but the Bible says everything happens because of God. First John 4:12 is a perfect example of this. Religious people want God to dwell in them, so they try to love others, thinking that will cause His love to dwell in them. But that is just the opposite of what John said.
Loving others doesn’t cause God to dwell in us or love us; having God dwell in us and experiencing His love causes us to love others. Our acts of holiness don’t cause God to love us, but experiencing His love causes us to act holy. This is the difference between religion and true Christianity.
Religion tells us what we must do to be right with God. True Christianity tells us that we are right with God through our faith in Christ, and right actions just naturally follow. We can’t walk in the Spirit by denying the flesh any more than we can bring light into a room by shoveling out the darkness. We must turn on the light to drive the darkness away. Likewise, we must walk in the Spirit to keep from fulfilling the lust of the flesh. [simple_tooltip content=’I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.’](Gal. 5:16)[/simple_tooltip]
You can’t give away what you don’t have! To set someone else free, you must be free. Let the Lord fill you with His love today, and you’ll automatically love others. Walk in the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.
