Love = Action

1 John 3:11-15

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

October 12, 2021

Love is such an interesting word, is it not?  Over and over I have talked about the various different kinds of love.  One of the Sunday School classes recently discussed each of them in one of the lessons as well.  We use the word for all kinds of things.  “I love Stacey and my kids.”  “I love chocolate and ice cream.”  “I love math.” (I recognize that I am quite weird with loving math.)

In English, one word covers a broad swath of applications.  I could say, “I love Stacy,” “I love my children,” and “I love my best friend since kindergarten.”  Each of these would take on a different connotation.  If I were to make these statements in Greek, each sentence would use a different word to convey “love.”

The point to all of this, the word “love” is a relational word.  Even in talking about math and food, it describes my affinity for (my relationship with) each of these as well.  Yet, I have to wonder how much we simply use it as a word without considering its depth?  Do we say it without any action behind it?  Conversely, are our actions done out of love?

The verses above refer to Cain and his brother, Abel.  Did Cain offer a sacrifice out of love, or was he trying to appease the God he did not desire to get to know?  Had Cain ever told his brother Abel that he loved him?  Was there significant sibling rivalry?  Had they been distant from one another?  There is so much of their lives that we do not know . . . we simply have one chapter.  Yet what we can know is that in a moment of passion . . . jealousy . . . Cain killed his brother and attempted to cover it up.

Jesus says to “love your neighbor as yourself.”  He asks, “who loved his neighbor, the Levite, the priest, or the Samaritan?” in the parable of the good Samaritan. (Luke 10:25-37)  James says, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warm and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” (James 2:15-16)  Jesus, in love, went to the cross because it was for our best.

Can you say, “I love you” and really mean it?  Absolutely!  But it must be followed up in loving action.  Are you loving those around you?  Are you loving God?  If only in declaration, is there something you need to change?  If so, I would encourage you to do it sooner rather than later!