Shared Love

"We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death." 1 John 3:14

Doesn't this seem simple?

Obviously, we don't want to remain in death. So, the answer is.... love your brothers. But, wait. Sometimes, although it's simple, it's VERY difficult to put into practice! I feel the need to emphasize the "VERY" and the "DIFFICULT".

As I'm reading through 1 John, though, it's the difficulty of the command that I am so grateful for. It's difficult because only God can accomplish it. Throughout the first and second chapters of 1 John, he is pleading with the letter's recipients to come to KNOW Christ. Then, he urges them to OBEY His commands. The next step is ABIDING in Christ. When we abide in Christ, we are completely dependent on Him. He becomes the supplier of ALL that we need. This kind of relationship is what we were designed for in the very beginning. Abiding in Him is God's ultimate goal for mankind.

When we abide in Christ, things that once seemed so difficult (maybe even impossible) to achieve become almost natural. I believe that loving others... truly loving others... is one of those things. It is the natural overflow of a growing relationship with the Father. When I'm abiding in Christ, His goodness, mercy, grace and LOVE are freely given TO others because they are completely experienced FROM Him. If I'm operating in the flesh, my love for others is dictated by THEIR actions, THEIR failures and THEIR behaviors towards me.

Why are we called to LOVE others rather than disciple others? Why must we LOVE rather than just forgive? The answer could be found a couple of books before John's letter when Peter writes that,

"love covers a multitude of sins..." 1 Peter 4:8

True love for others causes us to share the gospel with them, because we want all to experience true life in the One that offers it.

True love for others allows us to forgive them when their behavior seems unforgivable to the world. It allows us to the see that "hurting people hurt others", and that reality causes us to pray for their healing and redemption.

And, true love for others keeps me focused on what I can do for fellow believers rather than what is owed to me.

Last Fall, I knew that I would have to forgive others. I've experienced the Lord enough to know that harboring bitterness and anger for any amount of time was going to bring about a sense of death within me. I knew that it had NO place in the abundant life that God has planned for me. But, LOVE? I can tell you that I didn't have THAT on my agenda.

Thank goodness God had a different agenda. He has given me a love for 2 individuals over the past couple of weeks that shocks and amazes me. In some ways, it is an even deeper love than I experienced prior to our trial, because God has allowed me to see them a little more as He sees them. And, honestly, 'love covers a multitude of sins.'

John is certainly correct. We DO know that we've passed from death into abundant life when we LOVE our brothers. But, maybe our mistake is in our trying too hard. At least for me, my efforts to DO the right thing and forgive my betrayers fell ridiculously short. Therefore, loving them was very much an impossibility. However, when my focus became KNOWING, OBEYING & ABIDING in Christ, the love for others poured out naturally. It's almost as if I was able to give what doesn't even belong to me. God's love bouncing from me to another. That love led to forgiveness. When I found Him to be the perfect Healer of my hurts, forgiveness came quickly.

What an amazing God! He doesn't call us to do ANYTHING that isn't for our best and meant to usher us towards Him. His every work in our lives is meant to draw us into fellowship with Himself. He keeps demonstrating that it's the very safest place for me to be, so WHY would I ever resist?