Day 31 – October 12, 2023: I John 1-5 and II John

Are there any more powerful five chaptes in the Bible than what we find in I John. It all comes down to one idea: Love one another. There is absolutely no excuse for us to hate, there is absolutely no excuse for us to hold a grudge, there is absolutely no excuse for us to target people with our scorn or look down on them as if God somehow has placed us on a higher category than others. Love one another simply put means that we would treat a person exactly as we would treat our sons and our daughters. What a tragedy is happening in Israel because people on both sides are not able to love one another. For generations this has been true and for generations Israelies and Palestinians have been killing each other. None of this is an example of the commandments that we see in this Scripture.

The author’s goal is that our joy would be complete. Our joy can only be complete in Jesus Christ. He makes that very clear. We cannot experience the full joy of life without Jesus as our Savior. Jesus allows us to live without sin, and yet if we say we are without sin then we are liars. Wow, what a powerful statement that applies to all of us. We are all sinners. As a result we need Jesus. Look at I John 3:18 where we read: Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. Doesn’t this fit into our PSA? What a great phrase.

Focus on I John 4:16b where we read: “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” What a reminder for us that not only is God love, but we are called to abide in God and so abide in love. There is no stronger common denominator among Christians other than we are called to live in love. There is no wiggle room there and no what ifs like what if someone doesn’t love me back? Well, that is addressed. You are to love them, period. I hope we are able to keep this on the forefront of our minds as we decide what actions to take in life.