THE EVIDENCE OF LOVE
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and I expect the subject on everybody’s mind right now is LOVE. I recently officiated a wedding that had an interesting theme. Every song in the wedding highlighted a Beatle’s tune. The Beautiful bride came down the aisle to “Here comes the Sun” I think I even heard “Eight Days a Week” in there somewhere, but at one point, everybody in the audience sang along as we heard the classic, “All You Need is Love.” It really was creative and special, but as I watched everybody sing to themselves, the thought crossed my mind, do these people really have a clear picture of what kind of love we’re talking about here today?
In this blog post, I would like to examine the evidences of love. In 1 John 3:16-18, the Apostle John gives a very clear picture what true love is and what true love is not. He also tells us the qualities that show up in our lives when we display true love to others. You can often find these qualities demonstrated in marriage and friendships. Check it out. “We know what real love is because Christ gave up His life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters.” (16) The first evidence of love is sacrifice.
THE EVIDENCE OF LOVE IS DEMONSTRATED THROUGH THE SACRIFICES WE MAKE FOR OTHERS
What does it mean to sacrifice your life for someone? What example can you think of? As a freshman in college, I remember our school hosting a huge harvest festival on campus. Like any big festival there were concession stands, face painting, games and rides. It was a lot of fun and a great way to kick off the fall season. One of the kiddy rides was a hydraulic lift that went straight up and down, about 40 or 50 feet into the air. The man running this game was Doug Howell, the Maintenance Chief at the college. He would fasten two little kids in the basket with him and slowly go up to the maximum height. After a minute or two, he would slowly bring the basket down. The kids loved it. Later in the day, Doug had two little girls with him in the basket at maximum height when the lift buckled, collapsing to the ground with Doug and these small two girls. With not much time to think Doug did what came naturally to him. He quickly held the little girls close to his big chest and turned his back to the ground. Doug’s body broke the fall for the girls. They didn’t have a scratch on them, but Doug was killed instantly. It happened so quickly yet made a lasting mark on my memory. A man with a wife and small children at home made a decision to sacrifice his life for two little girls he barely knew. The evidence of love…
And isn’t this what Jesus did for us? John said it was “real love” when Jesus gave up His life for us. Jesus is our greatest example of love. I’ll come back to that later. The bottom line is that John gave us Jesus’ example to follow. John didn’t tell us about the sacrifice of Jesus so we can admire Jesus or even just to worship Jesus. He gave us the example of Christ to follow. He said, “And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sister.” It has been said that John was really good at comforting the afflicted, but he was equally good at afflicting the comfortable.
I will admit that I often get confused when listening to some Christians. They’ll look you in the eyes and tell you they love you. With sincerity, they'll speak of Christ's sacrifice for their sins, yet in practice they would NEVER sacrifice their own opinions & preferences. Unfortunately, I’ve experienced this first hand far too many times in ministry. Some Christians are willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the Gospel, yet seem to be quite comfortable living with divided relationships. Unity, peace and reconciliation are all beautiful by-products of love and none of them are possible without sacrifice. Sacrifice on every level is the essence of true love. When we feel that it is hard to make sacrifices for others, we need to think about what’s really important. Does my opinion or preference really matter if it gets in the way of a valued relationship? Most of all, we need to think about the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
What’s another way true love is demonstrated? John goes on to say, “But if anyone has enough money to live well, and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help- how can God’s love be in that person?” (17)
THE EVIDENCE OF LOVE IS DEMONSTRATED THROUGH THE COMPASSION WE SHOW TO OTHERS
This passage speaks of physical needs, but the context goes even deeper to spiritual needs. Here’s the thing that might surprise you. The person with the spiritual need in this passage is NOT the person who “has enough money to live well.” How’s that for a slap in the face? The one who has the spiritual need is the one who has the material goods, yet “refuses to help” the person with the physical need. Other translations read, “Closes his heart against him.” Refusing to show compassion to someone in need is a heart issue, which of course makes it a spiritual issue.
The phrase “sees a brother in need” denotes looking on something that is continually set before you. In other words, the people we should show compassion to are not just those who lack material possessions, but rather people who are lacking the basic necessities of life on a regular basis. There are people who put themselves in need because of bad life-choices and people who are in need because of circumstances beyond their control. If we have the resources available, we should be willing to help others who are truly in need. If someone is struggling physically, emotionally or even spiritually, we should be willing to help. By the way, it’s much easier to throw money at someone than to patiently invest time into helping them through a crisis. Like we said earlier, true love is best demonstrated through sacrifice.
There’s one more thing I want you to see about the evidence of our love. John concludes, “Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.” (18)
THE EVIDENCE OF LOVE IS DEMONSTRATED THROUGH OUR ACTIONS TOWARD OTHERS
What we believe matters. I don't want to be the guy whose life doesn't match his belief system. My orthodoxy needs to be consistent with my orthopraxy...and that includes the way I treat others. I know a lot of faithful churchgoers who say they belong to Christ, yet you would never know it by the way they treat people. I even know spiritual leaders who SAY they believe the Gospel, yet have a really hard time living it out in front of their brothers and sisters. I guess that's why God's Word holds pastors to such a high standard. We are representatives of the Gospel! Does it really matter if I preach the Gospel faithfully, earn my doctorate from a prestigious theological institution or join elaborate Gospel Coalitions if I am a…jerk? Remember Diotrephes? (3 John 3:9-11) I talked about him in another blog post. Talk about a brother who had a really hard time loving his fellow Christian workers!
A few years ago someone tried to recruit me into what sounded like a very good business. Unfortunately the person who was doing the recruiting wasn’t a nice person. I’m sure there are some really good people in that business, but this particular individual just wasn’t a good representative. They gossiped regularly, spoke harshly of others and ostracized those who rubbed them the wrong way. Being “mean” is just in this person’s DNA. When someone recently asked me why I never considered joining that business, I didn’t mention any names. I simply said I’ve met people in that organization that lack the character and loving qualities I desire in fellow work associates.
What’s the point I’m trying to make? If you’re going to say you love someone…it should show up in the way you treat him or her. Just as “faith without works is dead” (James 2:14-18) so is love without action. If the evidence of our love is demonstrated by our actions toward others, then the evidence of our identity in Christ should be demonstrated by the way we love.
So as you think about love this month, what is it going to be? The evidence of our love will be demonstrated through action, compassion and sacrifice. In John’s opinion, you are either loving or hating…caring or ignoring…walking in light or walking in darkness. I say let’s get out there and love!
Have you ever been the victim of someone who SAYS they love you but haven’t really showed it? I’m not going lie. That can hurt. It might even be a family member or a friend of 20 years. Here’s my Valentine Day advice to you. Don’t be a hater. Instead, love them anyway. That’s what Jesus did. He showed His compassion for you by sacrificing Himself on a cross, even when we wanted to have nothing to do with Him. He didn’t just SAY He loves you…He proved it. (John 3:16; Romans 5:8) There’s no action greater than the price He paid for your sins at Calvary. Now THAT’S the real evidence of love. Happy Valentine's Day!
