No Prizes Here by Susan Barnes, an Australian pastor's wife

"But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." 1 Timothy 1:5 NAS

The goal of being instructed in the things of God is not so we can win a prize on a theology exam. The aim is not that we acquire a great deal of knowledge about the Bible or that we memorize long passages. The acid test is how much do we love? In John 13:35 Jesus didn't say that people will know we are Christians by our theology, our intellect or our academic results but rather people will know we are Christians by our love. 

The test of our maturity as Christians is not on the basis of age, seniority or how long we have been a believer. It is not done on how long we study the Bible each day or how much we pray, even though these things are important. The aim is that we become more loving. Are we growing in this area and moving towards the goal of love?

1 John 4:19 tells that, "we love because He first loved us". The more we understand how much we are loved by God the more we will be able to love others. He has loved us unconditionally, deeply and eternally. As we open our lives to his love and allow ourselves to be loved then we will find ourselves becoming more loving as his love flows through us to others.

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