1 John 3:16-20

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:16)

Yesterday we learned about how much God loved us when He created the earth with everything that is in it and gave it to us.  Today's text is also about God's love, the love God had for us when He gave us His only Son as a sacrifice for sin.  Jesus gave up His life so that we could keep ours.  

That is powerful stuff.  That is powerful love too.  Is there someone you would die for?  I can honestly say yes to that question, but most likely it will never happen, I will never have to prove it to anyone.  But the text for today doesn't let me off the hook that easily.

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:18)

There are many ways to exhibit love; many ways to live our faith and share our lives and love.  Our love has to be more than words, or "a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Corinthians 13:1).  We have to put our love into action by sharing of ourselves, our possessions, by helping someone who needs a hand, by being Jesus to our neighbor.  This is love in action.

Read the 1 John 3:16-20 text at Biblegateway.com