September 23, 2022

1 John 2:3-10 (HCSB)
God’s Commands 3 This is how we are sure that we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” yet doesn’t keep His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God is perfected. This is how we know we are in Him: 6 The one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked. 7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

Glynda Steele
I read in a commentary that our relationship with God can be measured by our love for other Christians. Those are some pretty strong words. We are also told, in the Old and New Testaments, that we are to love God with our whole heart, soul, and strength. Jesus then added, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” So, how do we do this? In 1 John 3:16 it says, “This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers.” What does that even mean, “lay down our lives for our brothers?” I think it means that we are to sacrifice our time, our plans, our agenda, our hurt feelings, our ambitions and other things for our fellow brothers and sisters. If this was something easy to do Jesus wouldn’t have had to command us to do it. Laying down anything for someone else takes a deliberate, sacrificial effort. Are you showing God’s love by laying down your life for your brothers and sisters in Christ?