Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  (1 John 4:7-8).

We all want to experience intimacy with God. We speak to him in prayer, and we listen for his voice as we study his Word, hear sermons, and consider the counsel of fellow Christians.

But along with talking or listening to God, there’s another component to spiritual intimacy: loving others. When we express Christ’s love for the those easy to love and for those hard to love, our hearts are experiencing the nature of his affection.

By expressing Christlike love, we get familiar with it, and Christ’s care becomes more meaningful and precious – moving us closer to him.

So vital is loving others to intimacy with God, that the Apostle John says we cannot really know God at all without loving relationships.

Sadly, we will meet those even in the church who do not realize this. They substitute doctrinal correctness and personal criticism for loving others, thinking they are honoring God when, in fact, they are distancing themselves and others from him.

If you really want to experience the love of God, love those easy to love and those hard to love.   

Prayer:
Lord, help me to know you more intimately by loving those easy to love and those hard to love. Make Christ’s love dearer to me by how I love those dear to you.