Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1
In Christian circles I've seen two common patterns 1) they are cessationist in view, believing that God doesn't speak propheticly any longer so there is no reason to test the spirits in this way or 2) they believe that if a person is a believer and they prophesy that what they say is true.
Both of these lacking in what God had for us. We are not to treat prophesy with contempt and we are not to believe everything, but test what we hear.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:18-19
God's love works in us to remove fear. We learn to trust him because of his love for us.
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
1 John 4:20 NIV
This is an important principle. We often think that we are more advanced spiritually than we actually are. The real test is that our lives on the natural side are a barometer for the spiritual side. We are not more advanced on the spiritual than what is demonstrated on the natural.
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