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“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child.” 1 John 5:1

This quote from 1st John is the beginning of a long explanation of exactly what Jesus’s earthly mission accomplished and is still accomplishing. In this verse and the following twenty verses, John uses the word love, 25 times. With that type of oral bombardment, we can easily figure out that John is very interested in our understanding of how God loves us. God wanted it so much that Jesus brought God’s love along with him to shower the earth with a new way to love. We read these words and pop songs like, “Love is in the Air”, “Something (in the way she moves)”, “I Will Always Love You” and “All you Need is Love”.

However, this entire letter is a wonderful, theological treatise on exactly how Christ’s mission on earth was to share with the world that God is not a law-writing stickler. God is not one who is looking for humans to make a mistake so that punishment can be passed around. Rather God is one who wants us to love each other as God loves us. God offers to “remember no more” the transgressions of humanity…and each individual so that we can love. It is also why God wants us to do likewise to others.

If we would all read this little letter and understand that God is the creator and “inventor” of love, we can take a large load off our backs and love more easily. This is why we are to “forgive our trespassers” as God forgives us. God wants us to understand the joy of forgiveness and, how not only how good it feels to be debt free, but how good it feels to not need to collect debts from others. The forgiveness that Christ gave to us, is a gift of God’s that is meant to be repeated in our life with others.

Suppose you never “loan” anything to anyone ever again, but instead, give them anything they asked for? The load of waiting for it to come back could be lifted and forgotten. This is what God’s love has done for us. How many familial rifts, friendships, and marriages would be different? 

Yes love is indeed in the air. Live into it!