Compelling Love

The Apostle John writes in 1 John 3:18, “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” Loving in deed and truth means abiding in the love and truth of Christ, and loving others as He loves us.  One commentator, posting on the dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com website, writes:

“A godly character that reflects the likeness of Christ is one that loves others as Christ loved us. The love about which the Bible speaks is different from every other type of human love, and is uniquely imparted to the child of God, from the indwelling Spirit of truth and love.”

“To love in word is contrasted with loving in deed. It is translating one’s affectionate words into meaningful, practical deeds, through the sufficient grace of God. The former is to talk about caring, while the latter is to express unconditional love, in action.”

“Loving in spirit, in word, in deed and in truth is evidenced in the life of one who has died to the self-life, abides in Christ and is able to say with the apostle Paul – it is not I that live my life, but Christ, Whose life is in me and living through me.”

The writer ends with this prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank You that I am Your child, and that Christ died to pay the price for my sin. Thank You that He rose again so that I have been made a new creation in Christ – and received my new life in Him. May the love of the Lord Jesus so flood and fill my being, that it not only flows out to others in thought and word, but in spirit, in truth – and in my every action and attitude. This I ask in Jesus name AMEN.
(https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/1-john-3-18)

We love in deed and truth when we love with the love of Christ, who lives in us.  Paul declares in Galatians 2:20,

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

A friend in the Philippines, Jehu Beronia, has written a song with the words, “Love and truth is your way home.  It destroys the sin.”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1pvPLc-cWU&feature=youtu.be)
Walking with Jesus in truth and love destroys the power of sin.  Our souls are purified as described in 1 Peter 1:

²² Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, ²³ having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,
²⁴ because
“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
²⁵ But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

The love of God is revealed most clearly in the sacrifice Jesus made for us:

John 3:16 (NKJV)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Steve Green’s song, Calvary’s Love, expresses the wonder and power of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.  The love shown by Christ on the cross still reaches out to those in need today.

Calvary’s love will sail forever
Bright and shining, strong and free
Like an ark of peace and safety
On the sea of human need

Chorus:
Calvary’s love, Calvary’s love
Priceless gift Christ makes us worthy of
The deepest sin can’t rise above
Calvary’s love

Calvary’s love has never faltered
All its wonders still remain
Souls still take eternal passage
Sins atoned and heaven gained
Sins forgiven and heaven gained

Love is the highest commandment of the law, as Jesus taught in Mark 12:

Mark 12 (NKJV)
²⁸ Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”

²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Jesus raised the standard of love yet higher when he said in John 13,

³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

We love in deed and truth by intimately abiding in God’s love, as Jesus taught in his final days of ministry before laying down his life for you and me.

John 14 (NKJV)
¹⁹ “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. ²¹ He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

²³ Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

John 15 (NKJV)
⁹ “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
¹⁰ If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/, 10/13/2019

Photo credits:
(1) https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/1-john-3-18  *
(2) https://worldchallenge.org/verse/galatians-220
(3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNeGEoKxg2M
(4) http://www.calvarybaptistbc.com/they-will-know-we-are-christians-by-our-love/  *
(5) https://loveofgodproject.org/2019/03/relationship-with-jesus/  *

* (Includes excellent teaching)