God's Word for You (Sunday, Feb 7, 2010)
A Daily Devotion by Pastor Tim Smith
1 John 3:16-20
In his Epistle, John has just been describing love as evidence of faith (1 John 3:14-15). Now he turns our attention to the greatest act of love.
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
Christ’s great act of love was self-sacrifice. He gave his life to ransom our souls from condemnation to hell. Of the several terms in Greek for “love,” John chose the three-syllable word agape. In Classical Greek, the word agape was quite rare; it didn’t have a specific meaning. When you shop for yogurt, you will find many flavors including vanilla, but you will also find one labeled “plain.” It has no added flavor at all (strained of its whey overnight in a coffee filter, it makes a good low-fat substitute for cream). Agape-love was also “flavorless” in Greek until the writing of the New Testament. Even in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, it was mainly used in parallel poetry verses with other terms for passion or friendship (Song of Solomon 2:4, 7:6, 8:6-7, etc). But then in the New Testament, especially from the pens of John and Paul, the meaning of agape has changed from plain, undefined “love” to the totally selfless love that God has for mankind, and which God urges us to show toward each other. An unbeliever is incapable of this kind of love; he might be a philanthropist, but even that isn’t a good work in God’s eyes without faith.
The definition of this kind of love includes expressing such selfless love in our actions:
17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. (NIV)
The great selfless love of God comes to us (as one believer said, “God will love you more than your own mother does,”), but God also wants his love to go through us to other people. But we can easily be misled by the devil into thinking that we are somehow untrue with our love. Don’t let the devil whisper in your ear when you’re down, but don’t let him whisper in your ear when you’re not down, either. He’s a liar all the time, and God is the one, the only one, who truly knows what is in our hearts.
Before God, our sinful motivations and our sins themselves melt away like frost in the sunlight. The service we perform for other people must not come from guilt or a sense of obligation, but from love for God, who loved us, who lived for us, and who died for us. Show your love for your Savior in your love for the people he died to save. They’re all around you.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul's Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn's father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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