DEVOTION – DAY 344

1 John 4:19-21 “Love Your Brother And Sister”

1 John 4:19-21 “We love because He first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

The apostle John, declared in 1 John 4;16 that “God is love.” Thus, all love ultimately comes from God. We cannot generate genuine love on our own That is why v19 states that “We love because He first loved us.” But as human beings, we are all flawed by sin. We do not always love our fellow brothers and sisters. Many of us love people when they show their love back to us. It is much harder to love some people who never reciprocate love, they seem to take our love but never show love back to us. It is much harder to love people who are mean spirited or unkind. But God’s command is to love others regardless. God commands us to love others unselfishly, not expecting anything in return. This kind of love will cause people to pause because it is so unexpected. This is how God reveals Himself through us, His people, when we show such selfless love to every brother or sister.

We know someone who is a Christian. She has a caring and compassionate heart. One day, she was walking along the city streets and she came across a homeless woman. She was begging for money and she looked unkempt, as if she had not washed for days. Instead of giving money to this woman, she asked if she had eaten lunch. The homeless woman shook her head. She offered a meal to the woman if she would follow her.

Without thinking twice, she called for a Grab car to take her and the homeless woman back to her apartment. She found some old clean clothes and told the woman she could have a shower and use the clothes and she could keep it. Meanwhile, she went to the kitchen to prepare some food for this woman. When the woman came out of the bathroom, there was food on the table for her. The homeless woman ate the food. Then, her phone rang. She decided to take the call in her sitting room and left the homeless woman eating in the kitchen. By the time her call was over and she went back to the kitchen, the homeless woman was gone. She had left by the back door. She had also taken some of her money from her handbag. Most people when told this story thought she was too trusting and silly. In response, she replied, “I could not walk past this woman without helping her and show her God’s love. It does not matter if she took advantage of my kindness. I lost some money, but I showed her the love of God and who knows, she will be reminded of this love one day.” This is the kind of love that 1 John 4:19-21 talks about.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, please help us to show Christ-like love to others, not expecting anything in return. In this way, we pray that they will experience your love through us. We pray this in the holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Questions

1. What are some Christ-like love actions you can show to the people you know, at work, or at school, in the community, or at home?
2. Why does the God command us to love our fellow brothers and sisters? Discuss.
3. What is preventing you from showing love to others whom you do not like or get along with, or people you tend to avoid? What changes can you make to change this, so you can show more love to others?