1 John 3:18 --- Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
I've been sitting here for 20 minutes now trying to put into words how my day was yesterday. There's so much and no good way to describe it. So, I'll just say, not only was it Easter and a beautiful celebration of Jesus' victory over sin and death, but God did some amazing things for my family. I just praise Him and thank Him for it all.
Today's verse appears to be simple and straight forward. It summarizes what's been talked about before and is preparing us to move into a new direction in the following verses.
When we first dove into this verse I started to move quickly but the Lord slowed me down. In the verses leading up to this we are shown what love is, then called to do the same for our brothers/sisters in Christ, in death and in life. So, great, we've got it, we should show love in action not just in words, right?
To sum it up even more: Talking about love is cheap. Showing love by actions costs us something and it comes full circle to confirm our words.
However, this verse not only summarizes this but throws in something at the end: "and in truth". If it just said, "let us not love in word and talk but in deed", then we could easily create a list of love items to check off, rolling right into that Checklist Christianity mentality, whereby I find comfort, peace, acceptance, and assurance through completing my checklist of godly things. I don't do it out of overflowing love and relationship with God, but instead because I religiously try to regulate out items of love that equal okay status and call it relationship.
Okay, that was lots of words. If it were deeds only, then we could easily take hold and turn it into a religious automated thing. However, God throws in, "in deed and in truth". Uh oh… that sort of disrupts the checklist factory mentality because it's diving into something that reveals the intentions behind my deed doing. (deed doing… LOL… that made me laugh!)
So, just when we feel we've mastered something, "Oh yes Lord, I will not just speak love, I will show love in my actions. Now watch as I deliver food to the needy, while I attend bible study, while I hug Brother Joe. See Lord I did some love deeds.". Now, those are loving things. They did cost us something, but what was the heart or intention behind them? Was it to look good, to garner favor, to feel better about myself, to check off that one final item on the list?
I better make sure my loving deeds are rooted and covered in His truth, direction, precepts, and love. I can only get that through a genuine relationship with Him. Spending time in prayer/talking with Him, in His Word, listening and reading what He has to say. In true God fashion, He does care and deal with the surface level of our lives, but His love goes far beyond that to the deepest levels of our thoughts and intentions to care and deal with us from the inside out. Just read Psalms 139 and you'll see David understood this.
Remember, be the Berean, don't just take my word on anything, get into your Bible, spend time with Him! See what He has to say to you in it! He's waiting for you, and you won't regret it.
It's Monday and I pray you have a blessed work week, in Jesus name!
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