“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?”
1 John 3:16–17 (NLT)
John tells us what real love looks like—it looks like Jesus. He didn’t just say He loved us; He proved it by laying down His life. That’s the standard for every believer. If we claim to follow Him, we must love with action, not just words.
John reminds us that love proves we’ve passed from death to life. A heart without love is still dead, no matter how religious it appears. And just as hatred reveals death, compassion reveals life. When we see a brother or sister in need and respond with generosity, we’re showing that God’s love truly lives in us.
When we live busy lives and are consumed by our own desires and needs, we never even see the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We don’t see them—so we don’t get an opportunity to show God’s love. Then, because we’re focused on ourselves, we might feel guilty and not go before God to ask for what we need.
By trying to take care of ourselves, our brothers and sisters in Christ don’t receive the love they need from us, and we miss out on the love we need to receive from God. That’s a beautiful reminder for me today. Let’s slow down so we can see the needs of our fellow believers and meet the ones God calls us to. When we love them, we’ll come to God with confidence and receive the love we need from Him.