JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF THE SON (Series)
-through the eyes of John
Giving True Love
1 John Chapter 3
We love to be in the presence of God engulfed in His love. The difficult thing is taking that love and sharing it with those around us, especially those who hate us. It is not that people will admit that they hate us, especially family and so called friends, it is the spirit within them that hates the spirit within us. If we respond in the same spirit their heart becomes harder and more closed to Him, but if we react in the opposite spirit we share God’s true unconditional love, and the Holy Spirit is able to chip away at their hard hearts.
The world cannot know love but through God. For God is love! We are called to share that love with the world, but we cannot share His love, unless we first love Him. Our love for God is seen in our obedience to His commands. In Christ there is no sin (1 Jo. 3:5). So if we say we are of Him and continue to sin we are deceiving ourselves (1 Jo. 3:7). If we keep on sinning we are of the devil (1 Jo. 3:8), so no wonder we have a difficult time loving others, for we are not in Him. This is how we know whom are children of the Devil or God if they live righteously and love others (1 Jo. 3:10).
Christ was rejected and hated by the world two thousand years ago, and that has not changed. The world still hates God, so since He is in us, they hate us also. So we should not be angry with the world, are only angry should be with the Devil, and not anger that leads us to sin, but anger that leads us to love our enemies even more, which brings wrath upon him.
It is one thing to love our enemies, but it can even be harder to love our own. We can expect the world to be hateful, but we tend to be surprised when we see fellow believers doing the same. We tend to place high expectations on other Christians. We must understand we are all a work in progress, none of us are perfect, but God promises in His word, He is faithful to complete what He has started. We got to trust God to work in others just as He is at work in us. We are called to warn our brothers and sisters but this is to be done in love. The bible commands us to confess our sins amongst one another so we can be healed. We are called to restore one another not drive each other away.
1Jo 3:16-18 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up His life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God's love be in that person? Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
The world and our fellow brothers and sisters need to experience what real love is. It is us laying down our lives for one another, despite each others short comings. It is given when we could be offended and yet we are not, it is given when we sacrifice something of our own to meet another who is in need. Love is truly the greatest power in the world. It is the true force behind change. If we want to see a better world, it is through us walking in His love. This is what love truly is:
1Co 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
How does our actions compare with these definitions of what love truly is? Now we cannot love this way, it is outside of our ability in of ourselves. This is the love of God at work through the Holy Spirit in us. It is the result of a life yielded to Him. We cannot learn to love; we can only choose to be submitted to His love.
Application: Each night before we go to bed this week, let’s examine how we related with the people we came in contact with, and what spirit was at work. Did we respond like a child of the Devil or like a child of God? Let’s Give God praise for when we responded with love, and repent when we responded sinfully?