Taking Love from Word to Deed

What takes place in this passage is that we are provided with an example and what the standard of love is. He continues by giving a very real example as to how the standard of Jesus can be applied. And finally, there is an exhortation that summarizes the principle of Christlike love.

Read 1 John 3:16-18

“The force of attraction between two bodies is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.” How many of you know what I just described?

John begins with a fairly common idea here. “By this we know love…”A theory only remains a theory until it is proven in practice. An example of this would be the theory of gravity. Gravity and its physics can be explained but the very best way to do this is to drop something and watch it fall. When explained, it then makes sense that the object that is released falls to the floor.

In order for us to define something, we must be able to point at an example of it. I can explain to Duke how to write but it is far better if the explanation is accompanied by a demonstration.

John says that the perfect display of love has already been exemplified for humanity. If we look at Jesus and how He laid down His life for us, we can best understand the sacrifice that is necessary for love to be put into practice.

Within this example there is also an implied obligation. While John says, “we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” we can best understand this as “we must”. You might think that I am twisting the words of scripture but the idea here is that because Jesus did it, we must also do it. Now obviously, the example of Jesus giving His life is an extreme one, but shouldn’t we be willing to lay down our actual physical lives for the brothers and sisters that we should love, as referenced last week.

It is also necessary to place side by side the example given of Jesus and the example from last week, of Cain. Can did not love and so the result was the taking of life. Jesus does love and the result was life-giving.

True love profits those around us rather than takes something from them. Consider, for instance, the words that we use. A large majority of James 3 speaks of the tongue and the potential evil that it causes. Do the words that we say build up and give and or do they take away and tear down?

While this passage is specifically about loving one another, it is important to apply the idea of building up to God and His name. I regularly pray on Sundays that the name of Jesus would be lifted higher above all else. In praying that, I consider whether or not everything that is done builds up the reputation of the Christian. There are things that the church has done in the last 2,000 years that has been detrimental to the gospel. Because we love God, we ought to do what builds up His kingdom rather than tearing it down.

So many other examples could be used regarding love and how it ought to benefit.

The main points of this message are found in verse 17. Here we see a blueprint for how to take love from just being an idea or concept and put it into practice. First, we

Recognize the need.

We truly live in a world that has needs. Our church has partnered with Clement Arts so that we are more fully aware of the needs of those in our community. John says, “if you have material possessions and you see a need…” and I want to stop there because we must see the need in order to meet the need. This means we get out in the world and put ourselves in a position to meet needs. You’ll notice that he says “see a need” rather than waiting to be informed of the need. We will certainly be made aware of needs along and along, but the idea here is being proactive. This also means that we are spending time with those we love. Without doing that, we will never see their needs.

Next,

Acknowledge the Need

In the situation that John is describing, a person sees the need but does not recognize it because he “closes his heart against him”. If you really want to see the world through your own eyes, the best thing to do would be bury your head in the sand. That way, you’ll never know that there are needs that need to be met. Don’t spend time with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and you’ll never know the spiritual burdens that they are carrying and are in need of help with.

Sure, you say that you love someone but ignoring their need is just as if you are cutting them off from the love that you have for them.

How is it that the love of God can be in someone if they cannot put that love into practice for those who have less. Love is not just shown through the action of giving ones life. It is also shown in less significant sacrifices. Which points to the next point. We

Sacrifice for the need

In simply giving to someone who does not have, we sacrifice what we have for them to have. This applies to every situation that we’ve discussed. We don’t often think of this but love takes sacrifice. Consider the love that a parent has for their children. There are many things that are sacrificed for the wellbeing of children. The same can be said in a marital relationship. Even think with me about the love that our Sunday School teachers have for their students. They sacrifice time in order to study for each and every lesson.

Love put into practice means that there is sacrifice that is made. Finally,

Love is observed

This is the easiest to understand. If the love of God abides in someone, then it will be put on display. John 13:35 obviously includes this. By our love others will know that we are disciples of Christ. OTHER VERSE!

But now that I’ve given you these four steps, I want to point back to the example of Jesus Christ on the cross. It was because He first loved us that He hung on that tree. He recognized that there was a need because every human person has sin that is in need of forgiving. He did not close off His heart to the need. Instead, He knew His fate of death and acknowledged that it needed to happen. Because Jesus loved, He made the ultimate sacrifice in laying down His life. And finally, the world knows that they are love because it was put into action. This is the point of the summary in verse 18.

It is far easier to love someone in word or talk. It takes true love to actually do it in deed. And when we we do, it becomes the truth.

This exhortation is necessary because there are so many that say, “I love God” or “I love my brothers” but don’t actually put action behind those words. This is the easy thing to do.

But is it the right thing to do?

Loving one another in action.

Loving the needy by providing.

Loving God by serving Him.