Love - 1 John 3:18

be warmed and filled

, but does nothing to help. The rebuke is obvious. We should use our goods to meet others' needs. So first, how do you respond when you learn about a tangible need? Someone who needs transportation, housing, help moving. Loving in word is asking a few questions and then maybe changing the subject or referring the person to someone better suited to help. But this verse calls us to deeds. A love that when possible uses the strength and things we have. And let me offer just three examples from my own life that I'm thankful for. During college, a Christian offered to let me stay with his family if I couldn't find summer housing. I know members of this church gave me rides when I first came to JPBC and I didn't have a car. And I've received meals from some of you which have been much more nutritious and tasty than anything I could cook for myself, so thank you. This is love indeed. It's also giving to the church, both here and in other countries. Paul encouraged the Corinthian church to

give proof before the churches of your love.

Would your record of giving prove your love for the church? Let's move beyond material giving to some other applications. How do you respond when someone asks for forgiveness? Loving in word is saying, I forgive you, but continuing to have nothing to do with the person. Love indeed is showing you forgive by letting them back into your life. How do you respond when someone shares about their struggle with a sin or doubt or depression? Love in word is nodding and sympathizing and then going home and forgetting about it. Love indeed is not just listening, but being willing to share advice from God's word, even if you feel like you're not the most qualified person to do that. It's remembering to follow up the next time you see that person. It's actually praying when you say you'll pray, not just once, but persistently pleading with God on their behalf. And how do you act when you're the one in need? Are you too proud to ask for help? Do you wrongly assume that no one cares? College students, this is one reason for you to talk to older Christians. They can know you and your needs and help to meet them. Older members, and I'm talking to myself here as well, this is a reason for you to intentionally befriend college students. I've noticed that the young adults in our church are generally known for one thing, and that is being great with children, and that's a tremendous credit to them. But they aren't here just to be friends with your kids. They need your friendship, your advice, your example. I would guess some of them could use a home-cooked meal once in a while, maybe. More importantly, some would really benefit from seeing how a godly husband, a godly wife, a godly parent, even a godly single person lives in practice. My hope would be that our students would belong to this church, not just as volunteers, but as members of a family. And this ties to the third point, which is sibling love. We've talked about how love should be sincere and strong, and now I want to take it up a notch. John uses the word brother, you'll notice in verse 16 and 17, and little children in 18. He's talking about family love between Christians. What do we know about brothers, especially brothers who are still small children? Well, they share the same home and food. Some of them are further along than others, but they get a similar education. And most importantly, they have the same parents. They're under the same love. And that's what's special about the love we have for each other. We are growing up under the same father's love with the same schooling and the same spiritual DNA that makes us aliens in this world and wealthy heirs in the next one. We share a special bond and we should have a special sincerity and strength to our love. Galatians 6.10 says,

let us do good to everyone and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

So let me ask you two questions by way of application. First, do you prioritize relationships with other believers? J.C. Ryle said

never to make an intimate friend of an unbeliever.

Do you confide the most and invest the most in other Christians? Second, do you prioritize care for other believers? If your neighbor gets sick, you might send cookies, but if your sister gets sick, well, then if you need to, you might drive across the country so you can look after her. There's a difference. Other Christians should come first. They should get your best. Here's something else about little children. They mess up a lot. They fight, they're weak. If you're feeling pretty good about your love right now, or to take the other extreme, maybe you've been kind of stressing out about how you need to love more, take a deep breath. Sorry. Even if you love with all your strength, your love is like a six-year-old making breakfast for Mother's Day. It's not going to be perfect. And some of you know this all too well. Maybe this devotional has been one long reminder of all the ways the church has failed you. Well, that's you, let me introduce you to the adult in the room, the big brother we desperately need. And this is our last point, sacrificial love. There has been one person who loved perfectly in deed and truth, and that was Jesus Christ. Verse 16 says,

by this we know love that he laid down his life for us.

Christ, who is God, gave up the glory of heaven to be homeless and hated on earth. so he could call you his brother and sister. He willingly sacrificed his life so that your one true need could be met, so we who believe in him could be forgiven our sins, including our lack of love, and be adopted into his family. And Christ is loving you even now, praying for you, sharing his inheritance, preparing his home. Jesus has the strong, perfect love you need. And Jesus is your example of how to love. What is true, sincere love in its essence? It's the love of the Christian who has felt Christ's perfect love for himself. It's that love abiding and transforming the heart. It's good deeds bubbling up from that heart like water from a deep well. And Christians, see how deep and strong this love is. Verse 16 says,

by this we know love that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

I don't think that's just a metaphor because it says, because Jesus literally did die for us. Our love should not just be strong or brotherly, it should be so great that if necessary, we would give up our lives. So let the weight of that sink in. Look at the people sitting around you. that this passage calls for you to care for them enough that you would run into a burning building for them, that you would take a bullet for them. So I want to raise the bar one last time. Christ's love is sacrificial and we should be willing to sacrifice. So let me ask you, are you willing to be less successful at work, less muscular at the gym, even spend less time with family so you can care for other Christians? Are you willing to take your tax refund and spend it on someone in need? Are you willing to expose the messiness of your home because you love other Christians more than you fear them? Are you willing to spend yourself to exhaust your resources, to give your time, your energy, your strength, your life? This is love, to be like Paul in Philippians 2, poured out as a drink offering in service. As we conclude, I hope you've heard the call to love in sincerity and strength. Christian love is genuine. The Christian uses his strength to love in deed. And she is even willing to follow her savior in laying down everything for her brothers and sisters. This is love in truth. And John says in verse 19 that if we do love in truth,

by this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before God.

So tonight, if your love is fake and selfish, if you don't really see the point of the love I've been describing, then maybe you should examine your heart. But if your love is sincere, if it draws on and exhausts all the strength you have, If you can imagine one day running with shouts and tears to embrace your brothers and sisters on heaven's shores, your heart should be reassured. It's a sign you're part of the family. Let's pray. Father God, thank you that you have adopted us into your family, that we can call you our father and Christ our brother. Thank you for your strong, incredible love for us. I pray that we would love sincerely, that our love would show itself in deeds, that we would sacrifice. We know we cannot do this in our own power, but only because your spirit dwells within us. Lord, please be with us. We thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.