Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to begin each day with thanksgiving and with anticipation for what you will do in and through me.
Read 1 JOHN 3:11–24
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
More on Love and Hatred
11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,[a] if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Footnotes
- 1 John 3:13 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 16.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Think about a love like God’s that repairs broken lives and restores fallen hopes: a love that refuses to give up.
Think Further
Love is John’s central theme. It was revealed ‘from the beginning’ (v. 11) – the source being Christ himself. Like Paul, John sees love as the partner of faith: ‘The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.’1 Yet, since the beginning of time, families and communities have been torn apart by the absence of love, even where faith has been present. John has previously drawn the contrast between the children of God and those of the devil (v. 10) and he now presents two opposing champions, Cain and Christ. Cain was prepared to murder his brother, whereas Christ laid down his life for his. The first is the expression of hatred, the other the supreme example of God’s love, revealed in both words and actions. Whose side are we on?
John wants to inspire acts of justice in his readers. We need to believe and be saved,2 but he wants that faith to produce change and be marked by practical love, especially toward those in need. He recognizes that heart-peace in God’s presence (v. 19) is the fruit of a life of justice as well as the shalom of a relationship with God.3 We can only truly know we have passed from death to life when our faith is expressed in love (v. 14).
God knows our hearts. He realizes, as we should, how far short we fall of the high ground John is asking of us. We are not always loving. We want to be better at this than we have been. God, however, is greater than our hearts and he has provided for us, in Christ, full relief from condemnation and the power of his Spirit within.4 It is by the power of his Spirit that we dare hope for better actions ahead.5
Apply
Thank God that he has poured out his love into your heart by the power of his Spirit. Ask him for practical ways to share that love today.
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, I ask that you stir your love in my heart for others and show me in practical ways what that looks like today.
Last Updated on December 16, 2024 by kingstar
