SCRIPTURE: 1 JOHN 3
MEMORY VERSE:
“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)
LIVING AS CHILDREN OF GOD (vs. 1-10)
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God? And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God’ nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER (vs. 11-24)
This is the message you heard from the beginning. We should love one another. 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. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
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. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he is them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
THOUGHTS:
John emphasized that what a Children of God should do:
- Do not keep on sinning. (v. 6)
- Do not let anyone lead you astray. (v. 7)
- Love one another. (v. 11)
- Do not hate your brother. (v. 15)
- Love with actions and in truth. (v. 18)
- Obey His commands. (v. 22)
Deliberately committing sin will grieve the heart of God. It also grieves God’s people because we cannot minister to them as we should if we are not walking in love and in the light. Let us strive to have a heart that is right before God and men so that we can encourage and help others.
John echoed Jesus teaching that whoever hates another person is a murderer at heart. Christianity is a religion of the heart; outward compliance alone is not enough. Bitterness against someone who has wronged you is an evil cancer within you . Do not let a “bitter root” grow in you because it will eventually destroy you.
Real love is an action that produces selfless sacrificial giving. You can show real love by serving others and giving those in need without expecting anything in return. Are you generous with your money, possessions and time to serve others?
To believe in the name of Jesus Christ means to pattern your life after Christ by becoming more like him. And if we are living like Christ, we will “love one another”. and live a morally upright life.