Love One Another from John

For this week’s reflection we focus on how the apostle John understood how we should love one another

¹¹ For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. ¹² We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. ¹³ Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. ¹⁵ Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

¹⁶ By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷ But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? ¹⁸ Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

¹⁹ By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; ²⁰ for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; ²² and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. ²⁴ Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. –1 John 3:11-24

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. –1 John 4:7-12

⁵ And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. ⁶ And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. –2 John 5-6

Reflection

• In 1 Jn. 3:11-15, if someone who hates is compared to a murderer, then it seems that someone who loves could be described as life-giving. What are some ways we can be life-giving in our relationships?
• Drawing from 1 Jn. 3:17, how might we live with open hearts towards brothers and sisters in need? Who do you know that is in need and is there a way God might be asking you to live with an open heart towards them today?
• According to 1 Jn. 3:19-24, how can we experience reassurance in times when we are prone to guilt? What perspective on God do we need? How might this reassure our hearts?
• With 1 Jn. 4:7 in mind, how significant do you think it is that John said God is love, rather than God is loving? We might describe a human as loving, but not that they are love. What does that tell us about the nature and character of God and his love?
• In 2 John 5-6, John talks about walking in love, not sitting, running, or some other verb. If you were to describe the physical act of walking, what might that tell us about how we are to love someone? What might that tell us about how Jesus lovingly walks with us in our daily lives?