1 John 3:18 Love with Action
“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and with truth” (NIV).
“I love you” may well be the most used words, and perhaps even the most over-used words in the English language. Many phone calls end with these treasured words, and they are often said when greeting someone we haven’t seen for a while, be it a week or a few years. I don’t mean to belittle the use of these words for they can have great meaning, but are we sure that we really mean them every time we say them? The Apostle John would have us put feet to these words. A paraphrase of John’s message in 1 John 3:18, may be “Love in action speaks much louder than love in words.”
In John 13:34, Jesus tells us, “A new command I give you; Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (NIV). Jesus spoke these words to His disciples at what we call the Last Supper, the last conversation He would have with them before He was crucified. As such, they had to have had special significance.
How had Jesus shown His love up to this point in time? Before He walked among us, He showed His love through the magnificence of creation. When He walked among us, He healed those who were sick. He promised hope, and He promised eternal life. He taught the ways of God not only in the Synagogue, but He also taught them in the streets, and He taught them in the countryside. No, Jesus was not one to spend all His time with the “important” people of the land. He walked and talked with John Q. Public, and He sat down to eat with him. People stopped Him along the road and asked Him to heal them. Even though he may have been on urgent business, He took the time to touch lepers and heal them, and He stopped when a blind man called for Him from the crowd. He held children in His lap even though His disciples tried to shoo them away. How did Jesus love? He loved with His actions, with His life.
Not long after Jesus spoke these words of command to love, He showed His love for all of us by giving His life as a sacrifice for each of us. He died to save us from our sins and to provide us with eternal life with Him.
Jesus commanded His disciples and us to love as He loved. I may not be asked to give my life for someone, but many have. I may not be asked to preach to large groups, but many have. I may not be asked to serve in a foreign mission field, but many have. I may not have been asked to show the love of Jesus through any of these very visible means, but I do believe that he expects me to show His love the ways He did—serving people’s needs on a daily basis, spending His time helping others in their day-to-day lives. When I do that, I believe that I obey Jesus in His command of John 13:34.