You can’t prove something to someone who thinks you are a liar or deluded; in that situation, you start on the back foot and you can never win. But to someone who has respect for you and acknowledges common ground, there is a chance to change their mind.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

1 John 4:11-14

No one has ever seen God, but some of us are convinced of what He has promised. Why? Is it just convenient for us? It’s certainly not always comfortable to give up things we desire, maybe better said lust after, in order to be obedient. The nature of temptation is that it is appealing, after all.

No one has ever seen God, but some of us are persuaded by His loving commands. Why? Is it out of social pressure? It’s easy enough to just fake those things in public if that were the case, but for most people, there’s no need. Live how you want, it’s much simpler.

No, we haven’t seen God. But we have seen how living a godly life is beneficial to the soul because we have seen the effect it has on believers. We have understood the witnesses’ examples, not only in words but in actions! That’s why we love one another, and forgive and do for one another as Jesus would. That’s why we put others first. We do these things because God did them for us first, and we believe that because others have done for us first!

We haven’t seen God, but we have seen the work He does by His Spirit. That might not be evidence, but it is a witness testimony. When it comes to living the best we can, that’s all we need.

Ethan Kirl

Originally Published October 12, 2021