(The following is the November 23 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read 1 John 3 and pay close attention to verses 11-18.)
The sinful human nature we are born with excels at loving ourselves more than others. Babies can’t help but focus on their needs since they can’t care for themselves. However, as we grow, we hang on to that self-interest long after we’re capable of loving and focusing on others.
Once we are new creations in Christ, he replaces our old nature with a new one. We have a new heart with desires that please Christ. We long to be more like Jesus. This new nature shows up in how we live. John writes, “We know we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him – how does God’s love reside in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth” (vv. 14-18).
Our love for others is a meaningful measure of whether we have passed from the old nature’s death to new life in Christ. “We know we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters.” There is outward evidence beyond words that testifies to what Christ is doing to and through us.
Have you ever met someone who claims to be a believer yet is almost always unloving? Such attitudes and behavior should never characterize a follower of Christ. If love for others is evidence of new life in Christ, then let us excel at loving one another in word and deed.
Next Step:
How have you recently shown love for Christian brothers and sisters? To those outside the faith? When people see and hear you, do they see a demonstration of Christ’s compassion?
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