You Give Love A Bad Name!

Hello Beloved! I’ve been so blessed by this trip through the book of 1 John, I can’t wait to continue this dive in! If you thought you got your spiritual butt kicked earlier in these posts, this post is most likely going to be right up there with it! Last week we talked about how we should be so honored as to be God’s children and this week we are going to talk about how awesome it is that we can interact with His love. Further we can share the awesome love of Christ with others! But there is a catch…

Remember, the idea of this book is assurance and to exemplify what true fellowship with Jesus looks like. Written by the Apostle John, who was a first hand witness of Christ’s ministry, and is being led by the Holy Spirit. Lastly, he was writing to people who already believed!

“16 This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need but closes his eyes to his need—how can God’s love reside in him? 18 Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action.” 1 JOHN 3:16-18

Okay, so there is a lot going on. In fact, a blog post could be written about probably all of these verses individually. But I want us to focus on a theme of this passage. John just talked about the proper way to love our brothers and sisters are to love them like Jesus did, just a few verses above the ones here. In verse 16 he is finishing up that thought! Check out the beginning of verse 16 though. “This is how we have come to know love…” We can honestly know love. Not know of love, see love from a distance, talk of love, but we can honestly know and frequently interact with love. God is Love.

“16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.” 1 JOHN 4:16 (bold added by me)

How do we know this love? Verse 16 of chapter 3 tells us that we do because Jesus, the perfect one, laid His life down for the imperfect ones! This isn’t supposed to be some cliché saying, it’s supposed to be mind-boggling, soul captivating, heart pumping, awesome and good news! We know love because Jesus, God in the flesh, took our guilt and our shame, nailed it to a cross, died our death, and rose from the grave we never could raise from! If this was a sermon at church everyone would be clapping, cheering, and praising God for this!

Don’t miss the rest of this passage. Last part of 16 says, “we should also lay down our lives for our brothers.” Look fam, this term brothers in this passage is the term the early church commonly used to address other Christians! This should be a benchmark for all of us who claim Jesus as Lord! We should be known as a community of people who lay their lives down for one another, yet how are we doing on this one? Read verse 17 and 18! TALK IS CHEAP!

The struggle and short coming I’m seeing in us as a community is that when Jesus does all of these things for us and gives us all of these blessings, we say yes God! When it comes to a passage like this, however, we find ourselves hardly ever agreeing to follow through. Jesus, our Lord, our King, our everything laid His life down for us. Yet, we can’t even return that favor to our own brothers and sisters in faith that are seeking after Him the same way? We can’t share the grace with people who honestly need it as much as we do, and admit it? How dare us, God! How dare we hoard your grace, and use it for our own gain and self-righteousness!

“35 By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” JOHN 13:35 (Jesus’ words)

All people want to see Love and KNOW love. It starts with us Beloved! Some of us today claim to be a disciple of Jesus, but don’t feel led to share grace with other disciples. I’ll say this last thought. Forgiveness, grace, laying down your cares and desires for the betterment of your brothers and sisters should be a natural thing for those who are of the faith! Have we forgotten so quickly that we are made new!

“17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

“10 Show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honor.” ROMANS 12:10

Are you all about God’s love for you, but hardly share it with other brothers?

Do you harmonize with all other believers in a way that “all people” can tell you are Jesus’ disciple?

Is it natural to you to distribute grace, forgiveness, and to lay down yourself for others now that you are a new creation?

Let’s chat Beloved! Feel free to discuss your thoughts below!