1 John 3:16-24 (NRSV)
Read 1 John 3:16-24 on biblegateway.com
Verse 16We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. Verse 17How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Verse 18Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. Verse 19And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him
Verse 20whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Verse 21Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; Verse 22and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
Verse 23And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Verse 24All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.
Devotion
The writer of First John says we know God’s love because Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. Abiding in that love, means that we also ought to be helping those in need around us.
After retirement, I began delivering groceries twice a month to five or ten people who could not get to the food shelf. The week before Christmas, I was delivering the groceries to a wonderful woman out in a very rural area. When I got there, she had prepared a homemade snack and a card for me. I thanked her and felt so blessed. In her “wealth, or lack of,” she shared her love for me. The snack, a twenty-dollar bill, and a Christmas card combined to be the best gift I got during Christmas.
Indeed, let us love, not in word or speech, but in action.
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Prayer
Dear God, may each of our acts of love we give to our neighbor be a sign of your great love for us. Make us bold to see you in all we meet. Help us not to just talk about good deeds, but to do them. Amen.