Love One Another - 1 John 3:11-24

Many books of the Bible give us the instruction to love each other and 1 John is no different. "This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another." (1 John 3:11)  Just what does that look like?  How can we love someone we do not even know?  We are also to love our enemies; again, how do we do that?  I can tell you that we cannot on our own, but God can.  When I am in a situation where I am struggling to be civil to someone, only God can change my heart.

For instance, the rude clerk in the store this morning did not conjure up feelings of affection from me.  What should I have done? Pray... "God, you know what is going on in her life, give me a heart to smile at her."

What about the drunk driver who snubbed out the life of a loved one; how can we love them? Again, we can't without God's help. With divorce so prevalent how do we maintain a loving relationship with a former spouse?  Getting the idea?  I believe one reason Scripture addresses the act of loving one another so often is because it is not easy to do and we need the reminder that God is there to help us with our heart attitudes.

We can be confident that God knows our hearts and He can soften them. "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us." (1 John 3:23).  Remember, love is a choice.

Read the 1 John 3:11-24 text here.