John devoted significant portions of chapters 3, 4, and 5 to encourage his readers to imitate Jesus’ practice of love. Nearly three-fifths of his letter was devoted to the subject of love.
Jesus commanded his followers to imitate his kind of love. According to Jesus, a Jesus-kind-of-love will identify his followers most of all.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13.35).
John knew that a Jesus-kind-of-love is not shown by sentimental feeling but by positive actions.
Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth (1 John 3.18).
In his letter to the churches, James echoed John’s call for love to be expressed in practical ways.
If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them,
“Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? (James 2.15-16)
I like to think that Christians should be part of a vast advertising campaign to highlight the greatness of our Savior.
Our genuine loving actions toward other people is the best way to show the magnificent character of Jesus.
Love and Prayer
I am convinced that most prayer for other people is rooted in a heart of love.
When we love God and other people, we will go to our heavenly Father and ask for his help. This combination of love and prayer is very effective.
And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him
Whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God,
And we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him (1 John 3.19-22).
During World War II, a group of America’s best spiritual leaders engaged in prayer for an end to the war. Here’s an outline of what they did.
(1) They crisscrossed the nation, always riding public transportation and funding their prayer mission from personal resources.
(2) At each location, they spent three days to make sure their hearts were right with God.
(3) Once they sensed the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, they prayed for the love of God to cover the entire battlefield.
(4) They measured their success by the least number of battlefield casualties on both sides of the conflict.
(5) It was not a coincidence that major events in the war aligned with the times of their most powerful experiences in prayer.
If we love others, we will pray. If our hearts are in alignment with God’s will, he will respond to our prayers.
Let’s strive for this kind of love in imitation of our Savior.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I continue our study of 1 John today. Our video can be found on the Bob Spradling YouTube channel.
Real Voices 