God with us - Week 31: 1 John 4:16
This week we’ve spent a lovely, relaxing week in Conwy, Wales. After a challenging year, it was just what our family needed. I’m not one for buying holiday souvenirs, but I did purchase the treble clef welsh love spoon shown in the picture. These love spoons were in every gift shop, but this one caught my eye. The Welsh Folk Museum in Cardiff has the earliest surviving example of a love spoon, dated around 1667, but this tradition goes further. For centuries, people have demonstrated their love by carving a spoon with intricate designs from a solid block of wood. Originally love spoons were given as a love token but these days they are used to celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, or, in my case, as a souvenir from a special holiday.
Originally the giver of the spoon spent long hours, often at sea, thinking of their loved one and carving that love into the wood. I imagine that when the recipient received that gift, they knew the sacrifice of time and love that went into it.
It was created with love, given with love, and used or displayed with love.
“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.”
1 John 4:16
Our verse for this week starts with the phrase, “we known how much God loves us,” but how do we know that?
Who did God create and pour His time and love into before giving Him as a gift of love to us?
“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.”
1 John 4:9
God gave His one and only Son as an expression of His love for us, and it’s difficult to continue with the rest of 1 John 4:16 until we have reflected on that love. The assumption is made in this verse that we understand the depth of love demonstrated through the gift of Jesus given to us by our Heavenly Father. It’s assumed that “we know how much God loves us.”
Do we?
Do you?
Do I?
Have we fully grasped how much we are loved?
From reading the rest of the verse, answering this question seems integral to a life lived loved. If we know God loves us, we can place our trust in that love and let Him craft a life that demonstrates that love to others.
The love tokens we give to each other are heartfelt at the time, but we often fall short of reflecting that love in our actions. As a result, we can all cause hurt, break trust, and fail to live up to the love once declared so fervently. I’m sure many a love spoon has been removed from the wall when tempers flared and lovingly placed back when hearts were mended.
God’s gift of love is different.
God is love.
It’s His nature.
It’s who He is.
We place our trust in the gift of love He gave to us, and its intricacy becomes entwined in who we are, our nature, and the way we live our lives.
It’s no coincidence that I chose a love spoon in the shape of a treble clef. In recent months God has provided opportunities for me to create music for Him again. For me, this is a demonstration of my love for God as it uses a gift He has given me. The downside is it also involves other people evaluating and listening to that gift (any creatives out there will relate)! When we place our trust in the thoughts and opinions of others, then that’s where our problems start. 1 John 4:16 reminds us that it’s in God that we should place our trust as we live the life of love He showed us through Jesus Christ.
As we reflect on 1 John 4:16 throughout this week, spend time thinking about these questions:
Do you know how much God loves you?
Do you place your trust in God rather than in the opinions of others?
Do you live a life that shows that God lives in you?
Kay Moorby
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