We Love Because God First Loved Us

Book excerpt: The Bible is the Christian's textbook on relationships. From the moment of creation, God has related to His creation with love. The ultimate expression, "For God so loved the world," was seen in Jesus coming to earth, "He gave His only Son." Love is the mark of a Christian, "As I have loved you, love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples" (Jn. 13:34-35). Jesus's disciples took this to heart and wrote many principles that describe our reciprocal relationship. In his book, "We Love Because God First Loved Us," author Al Gary reviews these one another principles of the New Testament which teach us how to: Love one another as Jesus loved us. Serve one another in love! Encourage and build up one another. Respect and live in peace with one another. Christ has placed us in His body as "members one of another" (Rom. 12:5). In heaven, we will enjoy a perfect, reciprocal, eternal relationship with all of God's children. If we want to live on this earth in a way that foresees heaven, this book can help us discover God's way to make that happen! Dr. Al Gary was born in Slaton, Texas in 1944. He received his BA from Wayland Baptist University in 1966 and married Judy Bergstrom of Clovis, New Mexico in 1967. He received the Master of Divinity and the Doctor of Ministry from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Al was a pastor in Fort Benton, Montana and Evant, Texas. He and Judy served thirty-seven years with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention as missionaries to Guadeloupe in the French West Indies. After retirement from the IMB, Al served for nine years as pastor of the International Christian Fellowship in Lubbock, Texas.