Christianity is built upon God’s sacrificial love and the spiritual bond He provides to hold us, as His children, closely knit together in His love. Believers are called to love others—especially fellow believers—the way God loves us. We share life together and support one another as God’s family because we have made a commitment to Love—God Himself.
Today, as we continue our journey to Jerusalem and the cross of Christ, we reflect upon the teaching of the apostle John and the love that comes from God. Divine love must translate into an intentional and deep love for fellow believers. As believers gather and spend time together, trust grows deeper roots and we begin to connect on a spiritual level that the world cannot offer or manufacture. In fact, the world often hates this kind of love because it is genuine and comes from God.
Satan is the imposter and great deceiver when it comes to God’s love. He twists God’s Word and spins a very different perspective for unsuspecting humanity. Satan proclaims to the world a sinful, selfish, and self-centered love that promises pleasure without sacrifice. Friends, anything worth having requires a form of sacrifice. However, God both demonstrates and provides sacrificial love—agape—a love that chooses to lay down self in order to exalt Christ.
As God’s children, we are becoming like Christ; and as we do, we begin to see Him as He truly is—pure and holy Love. Sin stands in direct opposition to the holiness of God. Therefore, if believers know God’s Word yet choose to practice what God calls sin, they do not truly know Jesus, His sacrificial love, or the spiritual bond created by God.
Because the god of this world is so clever at perverting the pure love of God and mingling it with deception and selfish entitlement, John provides a spiritual test for us. He teaches that hating anyone for any reason reveals the absence of God’s life within the heart.
Therefore, a person who refuses to practice righteous living is not reborn with God’s love. Neither is the one who refuses to love his or her spiritual brother or sister within the bond of God’s love (1 John 3:10). Both righteousness and love call us to surrender our own will. This is the test that reminds us who truly belongs to God.
1 John 3:16 (NLT) “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.”
Prayer: Father, we thank you for the incredible love you have shown us through your Son, Jesus Christ. Your love is pure, holy, and sacrificial. Through the cross, you revealed what true love looks like—love that gives, love that serves, and love that lays down its life for others. Lord, please teach us to love the way you love. Remove from our hearts anything that is selfish, prideful, or unkind. Where there is bitterness, bring forgiveness. Where there is division, bring unity. Fill us with your Spirit so that your love may flow through us to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Help us to walk in righteousness and truth, reflecting the life of Christ within us. Guard us from the deception of the enemy who twists the meaning of love and tempts us toward selfish desires. In Jesus’ name. Amen.