“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.” 1 John 3:14 NIV
When John writes that we know we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters, he is not talking about how we know we have eternal life, but how we know we are in fellowship with God and one another. One way to know we are in fellowship with God is because we are in fellowship with other believers, that is, because we love one another. The opposite is also true. Anyone who does not love their brother or sister “abides in death”. The word “abide” means “remain, or to continually dwell”, and so the one who hates their brother or sister is not living in the fellowship that God wants and desires for us but is instead continuing to live in the realm of death, from which Jesus rescued and delivered us. The world is controlled by death. When we engage in rivalry and accusation which leads to the death of others, we kill others in an attempt to avoid our own death, believing that the death of our enemies will bring peace, but violence against our enemies only results in an increase of their violence against us. Jesus came to rescue and deliver us from this never-ending cycle of escalating violence, but if we Christians continue to hate our brothers and sisters and live in rivalry against them, we have not escaped the control of death but continue to dwell in it and be ruled by it.
PRAYER THOUGHT
Lord, may our lives show that we have passed from death to life by our love for others.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord Jesus, by the power and ministry of Your indwelling Holy Spirit, may our lives show that we have passed from death to life by our love for our brothers and sisters. AMEN
I.B.R.A. Readings
2 Chronicles 16:7-10
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