What the Bible says about Love, God's
(From Forerunner Commentary)
The righteous person not only sees the need, but he also thinks about it and works to solve the difficulty. However, notice the contrast here. A wicked person, lacking that missing dimension of God's love, cannot even comprehend the process. He does not know why it is necessary. He cannot figure it out why it even matters.
He lacks the ingredient—the missing dimension of God's love—to see that there is any difference between thinking about the poors' plight or not. It is as simple as that. He reckons that it is good enough just to throw money at the problem or offer a stopgap measure. The righteous, though, considers the cause of the poor; he thinks it all the way through.
The dividing point in this particular verse between the righteous and the wicked is the thought process—what goes on inside their heads.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
"If I Have Not Charity"
John wants us to understand how much God loves us and to believe how special we are to God—our faith in how much He loves us. The fact that God is love is repeated from verse 8 to emphasize how complete God's love is toward us. The verse ends with the fruit of this kind of love—unity.
Pat Higgins
Faith to Face Our TrialsRelated Topics: Faith | Faith to Endure Trials | God's Love | God's Love for Us | Love, God's | Special People | Special Treasure | Unity | Unity with God