Live According to Love

Reading: This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them. We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him. And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us. (1 John 3:11-24 NLT)

God's sole message to us here on Earth is to love one another. Coincidentally, it also seems to be what we struggle with most on a daily basis. Cain killed Abel because he was evil and his brother was righteous. Similarly, our negative actions usually stem from jealousy or envy. Verse 13 tells us not to be surprised if the world hates us. When people see their worldly hope falling apart, it easily triggers hate towards those of faith whose hope never shatters. When we go against the world's standards, people will mock. Not because they despise, but because they do not understand. They yearn for the same unfailing hope we have found through Christ. However, despite the hate showered on us by the world, we must counter it with the same love Jesus Christ once showed us. We cannot have love in our lives if our actions show otherwise. We cannot simply say we love, but instead we must show our love. James 2:20 (NLT) says this: "How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?" How hypocritical it would be to say we follow Christ when our actions follow His enemy. Our actions should support the truth we follow and the words we preach. By living according to love, we can have confidence in facing God. God doesn't advise we love, nor suggest that we love, but rather commands us to love. It is non-negotiable. God is love. So how can we expect to have a relationship with Him in the absence of love?