1 John 3:16

New International Version (NIV)

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 and sisters.

For Meditation

Love is a word that is thrown around very often. Yet, it is the most misunderstood and abused. It can be used to describe a warm platonic relationship (phileo), a parental affection (storge), or romantic feeling (eros). However, there is the highest form of love that rules over and through them all. It is called the Agape love. It is the unconditional, sacrificial love that is the essence of God Himself (1 Jn. 4:16). The Apostle John describes it this way: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down (sacrificed) his life for us” (1 Jn. 3:16).

John tells us why God did this: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). God loves this sin-stained (Rm. 3:23), God-judged (6:23) world so much that He gave Jesus as a sacrificial Lamb to take away our sins and to redeem it. He did this even though the world hates Him. Paul puts it this way. “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rm. 5:8).

Because of what God has done for us in Christ, John exhorts us to, “lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 Jn. 3:16). That is how we should love each other – unconditionally and sacrificially. When we love one another this way, Jesus says, we reveal to the world that we are His disciples (Jn. 13:35). To guide us to know what love entails, Paul gives us a list of its characteristics in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7; and to enable us to love as He loves, God has given us the Spirit of Love (Rm. 5:5; 15:30). No child of God, therefore, can claim bankruptcy in loving God and others. So:

1. Do you know what love is (1 Jn. 3:16)?
2. Do you know that God loves you so much that He sacrificed Jesus to save and give you eternal life (Jn. 3:16)?
3. Have you received this love gift, which is by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:12-13; Rm. 10:9-10; Eph. 2:8; Titus 3:4-7)?
4. Can you love your spouse, brothers and sisters, and even your enemies, as God loves you (1 Jn. 3:16b; Matt. 5:44)?
5. Can you share this love that gives life to your neighbor (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 1:8)?

I pray you know this love and can love this way. It is a fruit and work of the Holy Spirit.

May your joy overflow as you love with God’s love.

God is love and there can be no love without Him.

Shalom