Faith Matters: Power to Love in Truth

What Is Love? 1 John 3:16-24 16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

17 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? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (1 Jn 3:23–24). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

This passage lays it out, and we must identify that to be able to LOVE as described we must be Christians (Christ followers). Love is the laying down of our lives for another . . . it is action!

Words are not good enough to describe LOVE but it must be lived out. The giving of material possessions to meet a need. The serving of one another and so on. The second key is TRUTH, because Paul says “with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us.” As we seek Him, as we seek Truth and live it out, do we find our hearts condemning us, or do we find peace? You see that is living by the Word and by the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, living by the Spirit. If we as Christ followers are not living LOVE and TRUTH God will convict us by His Spirit within us. It is the constant, consistent, challenging call to us to live out our faith by the power of the Spirit of God within us. To listen to His voice! To hear the voice of the Shepherd in our lives. To be obedient to that voice above any other voice no matter how loud it is.

There are other passages that we can look to for an understanding of this also. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 4:3-5 says this, “3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.” 1 The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (1 Co 4:3–5). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

In this we see that LOVE is poured out of the heart sold out to God, to Christ! We can know this, that if we are abiding in Christ, and the Spirit of God is not convicting us as we abide in Him, then our conscience is clear. Are we to condemn ourselves when our conscience is clear? Through history many have and it didn’t get them anywhere because it was a work of the flesh. The flesh is good at condemning . . . and that condemnation leads to death; but the Spirit of God is good at convicting . . . and that conviction leads to life!

So my encouragement to you is to live a life of LOVE and TRUTH out of the strength of your abiding relationship with Christ. Our power to live as a witness does not come out of ourselves but out of the Spirit of God who lives within us. He gives us the power to LOVE in TRUTH beyond words and with actions as we serve and sacrifice for one another.

GOD BLESS YOU, and KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS! Keep loving and watching for His soon return.