“This is How We Know What Love Is” (1 John 3: 16, NIV)

Paul tells us about love in his letter to the church at Corinth, and John adds a crucial element, which is that we know what love is because “Jesus laid down his life for us (1 John 3: 16).”

Love is sacrifice.

“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 (1 John 3: 17)?”

This seems obvious, doesn’t it? If we have no compassion for others, especially for our brothers and sisters in the Lord, how can we claim to understand God’s love? We can’t because we actually do not know God’s love. We do not exist within God’s love.

John tells us not to only love with words, but with actions.

Yet, he also implies that we will fail, that our hearts will condemn us because we will not always understand and live within God’s love. In a real sense, this is because we are not God. We are incapable of living up to God’s expectation of perfection. Simply put, while we dwell on earth, we are not yet perfected. Therefore, John tells us “how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us (1 John 3: 19-20).” We set our hearts at rest because “God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything (1 John 3: 20).”

Since God knows everything and yet does not condemn us, then we may be at peace.

What a stunning paradox.

Do Everything in Love (I Corinthians 16: 14, NIV)

A simple command from God through Paul, the apostle is for us to “do everything in love.” Of course, Paul writes earlier in his letter to Corinth a well-known description of what God means by “love.”

“Love is patient;” in other words, long-suffering.

“Love is kind;” in other words, gentle, considerate, compassionate, understanding, forgiving.

Love doesn’t “envy;” in other words, love does not look upon others with desire for whatever they have that we do not have.

Love doesn’t “boast;” in other words, love does not proudly state how holy we are or how wealthy or smart or better than others we think we might be.

Love is “not proud;” in other words, love is humble, meek, mild, sweet, if you will.

Love is “not rude;” in other words, love does not bully or demean others, does not resort to name calling or slander, avoids gossip.

Love is “not self-seeking;” in other words, love does not allow us to focus on the self to the detriment of others.

Love is “not easily angered;” in other words, love faces adversity calmly, does not respond to threats or violence in kind, and tolerates others.

“Love keeps no record of wrongs;” in other words, love overlooks or at the very least forgives mistakes and deliberate cruelties.

“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth;” in other words, love gains nothing from darkness and everything from light.

And finally, “love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres;” in other words love lasts forever.

(1 Corinthians 13: 4-7, NIV)

Cords of Human Kindness (Hosea 11: 4, NIV)

Here in the Old Testament is a reference to God as one who provides human kindness. This human kindness is in the form of “ties of love” through which God “lifts the yoke from their neck” and “bends down to feed them” referring here to Israel, of course.

Human kindness? Yes, that is what the prophet Hosea writes. God’s kindness is referred to as human. Of course, we now know that Jesus is the one who gives the human touch to God’s infinite goodness.

Jesus lifts the yoke from our neck and bends to feed us. He heals us and leads us with his ties of love, his cords of kindness.

Easy to imagine Jesus being kind despite his brief anger in the temple when he proclaims God’s house is not a marketplace. Nearly every other interaction Jesus has with people is kind. In fact, Jesus goes out of his way to remain kind and amazingly calm. Remember how he stops Peter from taking a sword to those who have come to arrest the Lord? Remember the story of the good Samaritan who was kind to a stranger on the road?

In Hosea, God asks himself, “How can I hand you over, Israel? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger (Hosea 11: 8, 9, NIV).”

The implication is even though Jesus is angry at the condition of his people, he sets that aside and acts toward them (and us) with “cords of human kindness.”

Having Canceled the Written Code (Colossians 2: 13, NIV)

Read this again and again, allowing these words to sink in deeply: “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and thus stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.” Paul adds that God triumphed “over them by the cross (Colossians 2: 13-16, NIV).”

So, the law or written code with all its regulations, all its do and do not statements has been canceled by the cross, more specifically by what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

Note that God tells us the law was “against us” literally standing and speaking against us like a prosecutor before a judge and jury. Imagine a prosecutor suddenly and totally being incapable of bringing a case against a guilty party. This is the gift of Jesus Christ to us. He has given us the ultimate freedom, freedom from regulations and from condemnation.

That’s the main reason Paul rebukes those Christians who want to put themselves back under regulations, back under rules for “good” behavior. He warns them that they will never be able to meet every expectation that the written code demands of them.

I reiterate here: Don’t seek to please God through obedience to rules. Please God by believing in His gift, the gift of His Son and His Holy Spirit.

Born of God (1 John 5:1, NIV)

John, who is one of Jesus’ original 12, writes that to be “born of God” one must believe that “Jesus is the Christ.” If we claim to love God, then we must believe in and love the one who is begotten of Him, that is, Jesus. By claiming we love God, we admit (declare) that we love Jesus.

John also tells us we must “carry out His commands” immediately informing us that “His commands are not burdensome (1 John 5: 2, 3, NIV).” (By the way, burdensome is defined as “undesirably restrictive” and “taxing” by the Oxford Dictionary.)

Essentially, God’s commands are not taxing or undesirably restrictive because God has overcome the world through His Son, Jesus. And by virtue of our belonging to Jesus, we also have overcome the world (the world being anything in opposition to God).

Believe it. We have overcome the world even as we live within this world. So, as John says, “if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him (1 John 5:14, 15, NIV).”

Carry Your Own Load (Galatians 6:5, NIV)

Paul tells the members of the church at Galatia to carry one another’s burdens, then turns this on its head, writing: “each one should carry his own load.”

I take this to mean we shouldn’t overburden our brothers and sisters with our problems, endlessly “dumping” on them. Of course, this isn’t to say we shouldn’t ask for prayers or confess our sins one to another. What I do think Paul means is that we shouldn’t moan and groan every time we get together with our friends, be they Christian or not.

Rather, we should “do everything without complaining,” which is advice Paul gives to the church at Philippi (Philippians 2:14, NIV). He also writes that we should “not be anxious about anything (Philippians 4:6, NIV).”

Anxiety and fear are two states of being which Christians should be capable of sloughing off. Neither represent the Christian life. We aren’t condemned. “If God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31, NIV)?”

The Lord is Able to Make Him Stand (Romans 14, NIV)

Most everyone who has read the New Testament recalls that Jesus warns us not to judge, literally commanding, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned (Luke 6: 37, NIV).”

I have heard many arguments that Jesus does not mean that we should not call out sin when we see it in others, but I think that is exactly what he means.

Paul takes up this issue in his letter to the Romans. He reminds his readers that some Christians eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols whereas others only eat vegetables. Paul tells both not to judge the other person. Yet, you must admit both of these Christians probably have very solid reasons for their chosen behavior. Surely the one who avoids meat believes the other is “wrong,” even “sinful” when choosing to consume meat sacrificed to a pagan idol. (This may remind you how some Christians today denigrate the celebration of Christmas as an “unholy” undertaking.)

Paul even goes so far as to say that some Christians do not set aside a special day which I take to mean they may decide not to worship God differently on the Sabbath. Rather they worship God every day as if every day is the same. (This may make you wonder why some Christians grow angry when you tell them you do not attend a formal church.)

Jesus’ and Paul’s message is the same: “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.” Paul asks, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand (Romans 14: 1, 4, NIV).”

And this is the key factor which Jesus commands us to remember and practice: Do not judge. Why not? Because our brother or sister’s faith is not ours to judge. More importantly, God upholds our brothers and sisters in the faith. So, let’s stop condemning.

What happened to the church of Acts 4:32-36?

In the very early days of the Christian church, “all the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.”

Sound at all familiar? Is this description more akin to the modern-day church community or to Karl Marx’s original idea of communism?

I maintain that the early church was communistic, selling possessions and sharing with everyone else. No one claimed the right to private property. No one hoarded wealth to the detriment of fellow believers. No one built mega-churches.

“There were no needy persons among them.”

Churchgoers would sell their houses or lands and give the money to the apostles (i.e. the church leaders) who would then distribute to “anyone as he had need.”

We seem to have forgotten what it means to be in a church community.

All we need do is look to Jesus for a perfect example of how to behave toward one another. Jesus was incredibly generous with whatever he had, primarily his power to heal and his time to listen and comfort.

We should be so blessed to follow his leading.