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.”
John is describing people who say they love others, but when it comes to making personal sacrifices and taking action, these people fail to act. Their love is weak, shallow, and self-oriented.
As the old saying goes, talk is cheap. There is no shortage of talk about love in today’s world. However, it is rare to find people who go beyond the rhetoric and act with selfless, sacrificial commitment to the needs of others. We must be careful about verbalizing our love without actualizing it. We must be careful about talking without doing.
CS Lewis said this: “It is easier to be enthusiastic about Humanity with a capital ‘H’ than it is to love individual men and women, especially those who are uninteresting, exasperating, irritating, or otherwise unattractive. Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular.”
Who in your life is it most challenging to love with specificity? Who in your life is irritating or uninteresting … but nevertheless you need to love with greater action and truth?
Authentic love—the agape love of the kingdom—is love that demands something of us. It is love that is more concerned with giving than receiving. It is uncommon. It is rare.
Authentic love doesn’t simply talk, it acts. When we see that someone is in need, love drives us to respond to that need. If love is truly operating in our lives, we will share our resources with people, whether their need is physical, emotional, or spiritual.
- This is not a command to help everyone; it is a command to help those people within your sphere of influence.
- This is not a command to give away everything you have; it is a command to be a steward of what you have and share it wisely and generously when you have the opportunity.
- This is not a command to give people what they want; it is a command to provide what people need.
- This is not a command to quit your job and become a missionary; it is a command for how to do your job.
- If you are a leader, you should love your team with action and truth. What do they need from you as the leader? What can you do to serve and support your team? What do you need to do to be the best possible leader for the people you serve?
- If you work in an organization with other people, you should love your colleagues with action and truth. What do they need from you as a teammate? Do your job with a commitment to excellence, and serve and support your colleagues to the best of your ability.
- And most certainly we should love our families with action and truth. What does your family need from you? How can you best serve and support your family?
Remember that authentic love is guided by truth. Truth keeps love from being hijacked by subjective feelings and sentimentality. As we have said during this series, authentic love holds people accountable to what is right. Love does not compromise the truth; it does not turn a blind eye or deaf ear to how people behave.
It is much easier to say “I love you” than it is to actually love people. May we trust God and walk in the power of his Spirit so that we act with authentic love in response to the people in our sphere of influence. “Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
More tomorrow …
