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caring is from God

1 John 4:7-5:4a (JDV)

1 John 4:7 Dear ones, let us care about one another, because caring is from God, and everyone who cares has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:8 The one who does not care does not know God, because God is care.
1 John 4:9 God’s care was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
1 John 4:10 Caring consists in this: not that we cared about God, but that he cared about us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our failures.
1 John 4:11 Dear ones, if God cared about us in this way, we also must care about one another.
1 John 4:12 No one has ever seen God. If we care about one another, God stays in us and his care is made complete in us.
1 John 4:13 This is how we know that we are staying in him and he in us: He has given us of his Breath.
1 John 4:14 And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world’s Savior.
1 John 4:15 Whoever declares that Jesus is the Son of God – God stays in him and he in God.
1 John 4:16 And we have come to know and to believe the care that God has for us. God is care, and the one who stays caring stays in God, and God stays in him.
1 John 4:17 In this, care is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in care; instead, perfect care drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So, the one who fears does not care completely.
1 John 4:19 We care because he first cared about us.
1 John 4:20 If anyone says, “I care about God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not care about his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot care about God whom he has not seen.
1 John 4:21 And we have this command from him: The one who cares about God must also care about his brother and sister.
1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who cares about the Father also cares about the one born of him.
1 John 5:2 This is how we know that we care about God’s children: when we care about God and obey his commands.
1 John 5:3 Because this is what care for God entails: keeping his commands. And his commands are not a burden,
1 John 5:4a because everyone who has been born from God conquers the world.

caring is from God

Caring for others is contagious. We catch the caring bug from God, who cared for us
before we even knew him. Our caring for others is the symptom that we have been in contact with God. Absence of that symptom is a sure sign that a person has not been infected.

Caring fans out in every direction, but it can first be seen in our relationship with Jesus — the Son whom the Father cares for. Then, naturally we will want to share his care with others who are close to him. Look for signs of infection as this group fellowships together.

Caring also naturally produces people who obey God’s commands. We obey those people we respect and care about. We especially obey those who care about us.