As in the reading from 1 John today, it seems appropriate to me that we think about God’s love in relation to the forgiveness of sin and in relationships with others. I do not think of God’s love as conditional on something I do, nor do I think of it as something just between me and God. It seems to me to be much bigger than that. I think that is what John is saying today in chapter 4. It is clear in this passage that the love that comes from God is to be shared among us. Especially to the extent that we forgive each other. But in my experience, it takes considerable living and growing in faith in trying to love others to the point that we can forgive them. For me, it has taken a lot of loving others that deeply to experience God’s love as liberating and life giving. Most of us know that loving some people can suck the living life right out of us. So how do we take comfort and find encouragement in these words today? Where are the glad tidings?

Especially at this time of Epiphany, when Jesus is introduced to the world as the light of the world, we can focus on discovering more fully the reality of the gift of Jesus. This gift makes it possible for God’s love to be at work in our lives and in our world through Jesus. That to me is the good news!  We can begin the new year by resolving to just keep on loving and forgiving, trusting God’s love will give us strength, even to the point of miracles! I pray today that each of us will more fully experience life through God’s Son in loving one other person, especially a difficult one. Isn’t that what we Christians are called to do?