Love Each Other

“Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.  Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in Him is no cause for stumbling.   But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” –I John 2:9-11 (ESV).

In the gospel of John and in the three epistles of John, the beloved disciple, author of all three writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wanted his readers to see the importance of love and how it operates in a Chrsitian’s life.  It was John who gave us that beloved verse, the most-memorized verse of the Christian’s repertoire of verses:  “”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, KJV).  In his epistle, John emphasizes three major aspects of love:  (1) We are to love our brother (each other), a proof that we have fellowship with God (I John 2:7-11).  (2)  Love is a proof that we are sons (and daughters) of God (I John 3:10-14).  And (3) God is love (I John 4:7-16), the very bedrock of why we love because love is the very nature of God.  Today we will explore briefly John’s teaching of our love each for the other.

John uses the term “in the light” to describe the condition that exists in the Christian after he believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and accepts Him as Savior.  We come “from darkness into light.”  And because we walk in the light of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said “I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12), we will have love for one another.  If hatred is in our hearts, we are still walking in darkness—meaning in sin.  Someone has aptly stated the position we should take in love for our brethren:  “We love the sinner but hate the sin.”  Jesus taught love for each other in so many ways.  In familiar parables we see the love for each other manifest.  One parable in particular that demonstrates love is that of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:35-37). 

In I John 2:5 we read: “Whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.” And that love of each other manifests itself in our genuine love for our fellowman.  If we see someone erring, we lovingly try to guide that one back into right ways.  If we see persons hungry, we want to help to feed them.  Just yesterday I talked to a fellow Christian who gives portions of two days each week to working in a local soup kitchen that reaches out with a noon meal to people in our area who are hungry.  In this is love made manifest.  This series of devotionals on love began with the thought, “We are commanded to love” (John 13:34-35).  Loving others is a way of life for the Christian.  I want to say it extends beyond following a commandment (which we should do) but it is serving others with a heart-felt compassion and with a commitment both to God and to others.  It is love behaving admirably and exercising all the fruits of the Spirit.  Love is walking a mile in the shoes of another.  Love is going two miles when compelled to go one. Love is making a difference in the world where you and I live daily.  Love is shedding abroad the light of Christ in a dark world.  And we are light-bearers because of our love for Christ and for each other.