John 4:7-10, reads ...Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one & only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us & sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Does this verse imply that if we don't know God, then we cannot love?  It certainly does say that whoever does not love, does not know God ...saying love can't be absent if we know God in that personal way, of accepting Him.  But, is it saying that love is absent if we don't know God?  

Making an aside point, we all realize that none of us are always in peak performance of loving words or deeds ...irregardless whether we embrace God's love, or not.  We all have our failing moments.

We also read that everyone who loves ...has been born of God. Does this mean born as we are all born ...because if it does mean this, I would wonder why it was necessary to even mention it.  It would appear to perhaps mean 'born again'.  But, would that then imply that since everyone who loves has been 'born again', what of those who are not 'born again'?

Can anyone who does not know God at all ...show love?

We could also say none of us can understand the fullness of God, and since God is love ...we cannot have the fullness of love.  So, we all can grasp and embrace portions of love ...but, the portion we attempt to express has been through the extent that we experience it, whether through experiencing the love others show, or experiencing what God has instilled in us through knowing more and more about Him.

If someone tells my wife about a good restaurant ...she can ask questions about it, but she will likely not recommend it until she goes there herself and experiences it. If someone is interested in my Hometown, I can tell them about it, but if they are really interested ...they may want to go there, and perhaps visit places and talk with people.

A dad had read many books on how to build a birch bark canoe.  His teenage son was interested, and after watching Dad for just a short while, wanted to build his own. It was a fabulous experience ...and one of adventure, as they went to the river to set out in their canoes.  The dad's held together, but the son's did not.  They both ended up in Dad's canoe, and had a great time.

Many people either enthusiastically try to do it alone ...thinking they can do just as well.  Or they try to discount what someone else is doing.  Many arguments against the Bible have been floated ...but they don't hold water (or they take on water, and sink).

Our oldest daughter went to school to become a medical assistant, and she has worked several years in a Doctor's office. She has continued school and has done internships at some really good hospitals, and will soon become a registered nurse. She is smart, but that does not lessen the fact of how hard she works.

To learn, you can study and get experience.  To get the best learning and the best experience, you often want to go to the best.  To know about love, we can all go to the Bible to read about He who is love.  Wouldn't that help you in being more qualified?  And to talk with others in the field ...other believers.

So, to begin a list of the most influential people ...God is first.

Yet, where else do we search to enhance our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness?

Our life ...or the life of others?  Whose life is enhanced with the decision of abortion ...certainly not the child's.

Liberty enables us to be free ...but free to do whatever we want? Is that good?

And happiness ...it may seem shallow to view it as two teams playing in the Superbowl, and one team's victory is the other team's defeat.  In life, it may be often like that, but it's much more important.  

As the concept often applies in everyday life, it is not just competition to see who's best ...it's everyone doing their best. And we should be happy for the achievement of others. We can't make everyone happy, nor should we ...but we should at least consider the principle of "do unto others as you'd have them do unto you."