Christian Daily Word (13)
Daily Word for Christians...Here's the scripture to meditate on!
1 John 4:7 (NLT)
"Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God."
Analysis of the Daily Word
In the Gospel that the apostle John wrote, love is mentioned more times than in the other three Gospels combined. What he wrote makes it clear that love should motivate everything a Christian does. (1 John 4:10, and 11) It was a lesson that John himself took a while to learn and cultivate. As a young man, John did not always act with love.
For example, on a certain occasion, Jesus and his disciples were going to Jerusalem through Samaria, and in a Samaritan town, they were not received with hospitality. John proposed to send down fire from heaven and destroy all its inhabitants. (Luke 9:52-56) On another occasion, he and his brother James apparently convinced his mother to ask Jesus to give them important positions alongside him in the Kingdom. When the other apostles found out, they were furious. (Matthew 20:20, 21, and 24)
Despite the mistakes John made, Jesus loved him regardless. (John 21:7)
What should we not do?
We can show our love for our brothers and sisters by not doing certain things. For example, we should not be easily offended by what they may say. Let's think about what happened sometime before the death of Jesus. He told his disciples that in order to have eternal life they must eat his flesh and drink his blood. (John 6:53-57) Many were scandalized and abandoned him. But his true friends, including John, were loyal and stayed beside him. They didn't understand what he meant and were probably puzzled, but they didn't take offense or assume he was wrong. Rather, they trusted him because they knew he always told the truth. (John 6:60, and 66-69) How important it is that we are not easily offended by what our brothers and sisters say, but that we give them the benefit of the doubt. (Proverbs 18:13 | Ecclesiastes 7:9)
Why should we not hate our brothers and sisters?
John also warned us that we should not hate one another. If we don't listen to this counsel, we expose ourselves to being manipulated by Satan. (1 John 2:11 | 3:15) The same thing happened to some at the end of the first century. Satan did all he could to foment hatred and division among God's servants. By the time John wrote to them, some with that same satanic spirit had crept into the congregation. One of them was Diotrephes, who was causing serious divisions in a congregation. He had no respect for the traveling overseers sent by the governing body. He was so arrogant that he even tried to kick out of the congregation those who wanted to treat brothers he did not like with hospitality. (3 John 9:10) Today, Satan continues to try in every way to use the "divide and rule" tactic.
1 John 4:7 (NLT)
"Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God."
Analysis of the Daily Word
In the Gospel that the apostle John wrote, love is mentioned more times than in the other three Gospels combined. What he wrote makes it clear that love should motivate everything a Christian does. (1 John 4:10, and 11) It was a lesson that John himself took a while to learn and cultivate. As a young man, John did not always act with love.
For example, on a certain occasion, Jesus and his disciples were going to Jerusalem through Samaria, and in a Samaritan town, they were not received with hospitality. John proposed to send down fire from heaven and destroy all its inhabitants. (Luke 9:52-56) On another occasion, he and his brother James apparently convinced his mother to ask Jesus to give them important positions alongside him in the Kingdom. When the other apostles found out, they were furious. (Matthew 20:20, 21, and 24)
Despite the mistakes John made, Jesus loved him regardless. (John 21:7)
What should we not do?
We can show our love for our brothers and sisters by not doing certain things. For example, we should not be easily offended by what they may say. Let's think about what happened sometime before the death of Jesus. He told his disciples that in order to have eternal life they must eat his flesh and drink his blood. (John 6:53-57) Many were scandalized and abandoned him. But his true friends, including John, were loyal and stayed beside him. They didn't understand what he meant and were probably puzzled, but they didn't take offense or assume he was wrong. Rather, they trusted him because they knew he always told the truth. (John 6:60, and 66-69) How important it is that we are not easily offended by what our brothers and sisters say, but that we give them the benefit of the doubt. (Proverbs 18:13 | Ecclesiastes 7:9)
Why should we not hate our brothers and sisters?
John also warned us that we should not hate one another. If we don't listen to this counsel, we expose ourselves to being manipulated by Satan. (1 John 2:11 | 3:15) The same thing happened to some at the end of the first century. Satan did all he could to foment hatred and division among God's servants. By the time John wrote to them, some with that same satanic spirit had crept into the congregation. One of them was Diotrephes, who was causing serious divisions in a congregation. He had no respect for the traveling overseers sent by the governing body. He was so arrogant that he even tried to kick out of the congregation those who wanted to treat brothers he did not like with hospitality. (3 John 9:10) Today, Satan continues to try in every way to use the "divide and rule" tactic.
26-30, M
