1 JOHN 3:16-18 – By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
THEME OF THE DAY. HAVE WE BEEN LOVED IN DEED AND TRUTH? What we are not going to find in today’s nugget is me exhorting us to do something. Nope. We are not going to read today’s scripture and say, “Go love someone in deed and truth.” That would be right for the Apostle John does that very thing, but we want to look at us being receivers not doers.
Let us take a small sample, say about the last seven days. Have you, have I, been a recipient of another Christian obeying the Apostle John’s command “to love in deed and truth”? In the past week, has a believer entered our lives with one objective – to show the love of Jesus by encouraging us? Did we receive a phone call, text message, email, card in the mail, or any other “act of love in deed” to show us the reality of the Lord Jesus?
The Bible speaks volumes about our ministry to other Christians. Do a study of the over fifty “one another” commands in the New Testament. God places an extremely high premium on our willful and sacrificial acts of love to His people. In fact, if we dig deep into today’s scripture, we will discover that our knowledge of love is revealed by our sacrificial service to other believers, but the opposite will be true. Believers who are not actively loving other believers know little, if anything, about the love of God.
But let us get back to the sample. Hopefully, you did not have a problem identifying Christians who loved you in word and deed this past week and that list of believers who ministered to you was more than one. However, I think, but hope I am wrong, there is a good chance that your list of Christians who reached out to you to check on you, encourage you, and love you in word and deed is short, like none. That leads us to the necessary application . . .
The greatest two needs in the church of Jesus Christ is for Him to reveal Himself in the power of revival. And what is revival in its simplest definition? A people saturated with God. If this happens to us, guess what? We love in word and deed His people. The reason why more Christians are not loving Christians in sacrificial service is our hearts are so far away from the heart of Him who gave the supreme act of sacrificial service – Himself. Get close to the heart of Jesus and we will love His people in word and deed consistently, sacrificially, and joyfully.
The other great need in the church of the Lord Jesus is for us to take seriously His Word and especially the “one another” commands. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). His Words demand we ask the question of ourselves, “Does my Christianity reflect Biblical reality?” And if the answer is “yes”, then we will not only be receiving acts of love in word and deed from other believers, but will also be those givers of love in word and deed to other believers. Think about it. Love is the distinguishing mark in God’s children.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to affirm my love for You and people by my words and actions.”
QUOTE: “Our profession of faith in the Lord Jesus is validated by our obedience to Jesus.”