1 John 3:11-20 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“11This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous. 13So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.
“14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. 15Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer.
“16By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?
“18Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth. 19And by this we will know that we belong to the truth, and will assure our hearts in His presence: 20Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things.”
What Love Prefers
The word “love” in the Greek is “agape,” which means to
prefer, in this case to prefer what God prefers, choosing his choices, and
obeying them in his power. And God prefers holiness, righteousness, godliness,
moral purity, uprightness, faithfulness, honesty, integrity and obedience to
his commands, that they should be what we prefer and what we live by as
followers of Christ. So God prefers truth and righteousness and he rejects all
that is lies, deceptions, and all willful misleadings and misrepresentations of
His Word.
And we should prefer and reject the same things which our
Lord prefers and rejects. Why? Because that is love for God. And that is also
love for our fellow humans. For lying to people, even if it is to make them
feel good, is not love. Misleading them to avoid being harsh and strong on
subjects that matter for eternity is not love. It is hate! And going soft on
sin in order to not offend the sinfully addicted is not compassion. It is selfishness,
for it is the truth which sets people free, not the lies which tickle itching
ears.
All So Upside Down!
We live in a day and time when so many things are being
twisted and traded for something else in order to appease human flesh. And they
call that love. They call that kindness. They refer to it as mercy. And they
define it as compassion. But in reality, it is none of those. It may sound
good, and it may feel good to human flesh, and people may embrace it and love
those who teach it, but if you are soft-pedaling the gospel to make it more
acceptable and so people will like you, that is the opposite of love.
And the word “love” is being flip-flopped to mean the
opposite of what agape love looks like. So if you are someone who speaks the
truth in love to the people, and who tells them the truth of the gospel, that
by faith in Jesus we must deny self, die to sin, and obey God, in practice, you
may find that you will be rejected by the majority who prefer a “friendlier”
version of the gospel message which does not require that we repent of our sins
and that we obey God, in practice. You may be hated for the truth that you
speak.
Opposition From Others
Now, speaking from experience, and I have been at this most
of my life, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, and if you are a student of
the Scriptures who studies them in the correct biblical context, and who is a
seeker of truth and righteousness, and so you are diligent in making certain,
as being led by the Spirit, that what you are teaching/sharing is biblical
truth, as far as you understand, and not the lies which are popularized, you
will probably face opposition from others who do not hold to the same beliefs
as you.
And you may have all kinds of accusations hailed at you from
those who disagree with what you are sharing as truth. And you may be called
all sorts of names, and you may be accused of teaching lies, and you may be
accused of not being a Christian or of faking it or of being AI (artificial
intelligence) just because what you are sharing from the Word of God does not
agree with what other people have come to believe. Well Jesus and the prophets
before him and his apostles faced similar treatment, so you are in good
company.
Laying Down our Lives
So, laying down our lives for our fellow Christians (or for
those giving lip service to God only) is not just about giving some of our
possessions to people who are legitimately in need. For what they need is not
just worldly possessions. What they need is for someone to tell them the truth
of what God’s word teaches for their deliverance from addiction to sin so they
will now love and serve God with their lives in obedience to his commands.
Refusing to speak truth is also withholding compassion and genuine love.
For when this says that we are to love, not in word and
speech, but in action and in truth, it is not teaching that we are to remain
silent and to keep from speaking the truth of the gospel. It means that we don’t
love in words only, which often is not love at all, but that we demonstrate
love by our actions done in truth. And if we are writers on the internet, and
not in person with other people, this is our actions done in truth if what we
are speaking is the truth that people need to hear, spoken in love, because
they need the truth.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
What Love Looks Like
An Original Work / July 18, 2026
Christ’s Free
Servant, Sue J Love
Open My Heart
An Original Work /
July 2, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
“Be wise about what is good and
innocent about what is evil” (Rm. 16:19b).
Open my heart. Let
Your truth in.
Make of me a
servant, pure within;
Sing of Your praise
all of my days.
Let Your Spirit
transform all my ways.
Jesus Christ died on
a cross to
Save me from my sin.
“Repent of sin. Be
cleansed within.
Obey all of His
commands today.”
“Why do you doubt?
Why do you fear?
Jesus Christ will
wipe away your tears.
He cares for you. He
feels your pain.
Die to sin, and life
with Him you’ll gain.
Follow Him where’er
He leads you.
Talk with Him each
day.
Then you will know what He has planned
For your life before
your world began.”
“Come unto Me, weary
in heart.
Let My love and
grace to you impart.
Believe in Me. Trust
in My care.
Take your burdens to
the Lord in prayer.
He will meet all of
your needs,
And give you peace
within.
Rejoice in Him! Tell
of His love.
He will give you
comfort from above.”
No comments:
Post a Comment