How do we see God’s love?

There were two very famous texts in the readings for Sunday, 3 May 2015: ‘God is love’ (1 John 4 : 8) and ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower’ (John 15 : 1). God’s love is shown by the gift of God’s own life flowing through Jesus the true vine into us, but only if we choose to be and to stay connected, and to accept all that goes with that decision. Often we think that love is a feeling, an overpowering emotion, but God’s love is shown by actions. Love means deciding to do what is good for another person before what seems best for myself. This is not so rare as it seems. Lots of people have chosen to give to the appeal for Nepal rather than spend their cash another way, and that is love, connecting people to each other and to God, who is always closer than we think.     (Marian Ballance)