1 John 2:7-8 says, “Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment – to love one another – is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.”
Where does this commandment appear elsewhere in the Bible? Well, in the Old Testament it appears in Leviticus 18:19 – “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” In the New Testament it appears in Mark 12:31 – “The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” The theme also is found in John 13:34 – “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.”
“For the most part seeing is believing. Learning something by word-of-mouth leaves room for misunderstanding, but witnessing an event firsthand gives a person’s testimony special significance. John’s first letter to the church makes it clear that he had indeed witnessed Jesus Christ with his own two eyes and that he really knew Jesus.” (NLT Chapter Description)
John was an eyewitness of Jesus.
1 John 2:9-11 says, “If anyone claims, ‘I am living in the light,’ but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.” John was expressing one of the problems the church faced – hating each other! The letter was probably intended to be read by the church in Ephesus and perhaps also by other churches in the surrounding cities. The letter was written like a poetic sermon to do damage control in the church. What can help us prevent hatred and separation in the church?
James 1:19-20 says – “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.” This passage, written by James, points out that if we are quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry we will move toward the righteous life God desires for us… being made new and loving one another! We will remain blinded by darkness if we refuse to love, mostly hurting ourselves.
How are your relationships?
Romans 12:18 suggests – “Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.” As well, Romans 16:7 says – “When people’s lives please the Lord, even their enemies are at peace with them.”
These are great truths to live out that require intentionality and discipline. We all, likely, can think of someone who is challenging to love and fellowship with whom God wants us to love more deeply and sincerely. I encourage you to take a step this week in practicing love toward that person.
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Kevin Nethercott serves as director of Youth Unlimited YFC North Perth.
