1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
Context: 1 John 8-11 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
From the lexicon: Love=actively doing what God prefers, have preference for. Born=Brought forth from. Knows=perceives through personal experience.
Pulling it together: 1 John 4:7 tells us what the Christian life ought to look like—one of love for God is love and those who are born from above (John 3:3) will have that quality in their nature. John is saying that by showing God’s love we show we belong to Him and know Him. Without Godly love in us we have no evidence that we know or have even experienced Him.
The world speaks of love, which is a self-serving love, but has no idea of what Godly love is all about. John 3:16 says it plainly: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. God’s love gives without expecting anything in return—regarding the welfare of others, having a preference for them. The world cannot know this love until it sees it working out in the lives of those who are God’s children. Lord I pray for grace to love You more and to know Your heart as I share Your love with those around me.