11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him 20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. (1 John 3:11-22 – NASB)
Love is an attribute of those who is in God. Without God, we do not know what love is. God demonstrates love by having His only beloved Son, Jesus, laid down His life for us. In today’s world, there are many brokenness, as love is not presence in many circumstances. To reclaim the Kingdom of God, we need to bring love to the society. We do not merely pay lip service, but we love in deed and truth. We love with a genuine heart, purely because of God, not for some other reasons. We, as human beings, are so easily being deceived by ourselves. We use our best effort to convince ourselves that we love with a good motive. We, in deed, need to be cautious of our “true” motive. We need to listen to our hearts. We need to be honest with ourselves. We need to be reminded by the Spirit that the ONLY reason for us to love is God. If we focus on that ONE reason to love, our hearts will no longer condemn us. We no longer have guilty feeling, worrying that we do not have enough love or we love with a wrong motive. Instead, we will have confidence before God and be encouraged by God to continue to love…freely.
For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. (1 John 3: 11, 18)
