A Study Through the Letters of Johnنموونە

Day 5 - Hate Leads to Death, but Love to Life!

(Read 1 John 3:11-24)

For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

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. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

Reflection on the passage:

A bleak, horrific picture of how hate leads to death is before us right now in what is happening in Israel and Gaza. At the same time have been heroic stories of life-giving love, such as a grandfather going right into the danger zone in southern Israel to rescue his children and grandchildren. In this passage, John starkly contrasts love and hate, in terms of their source and what they lead to.

John makes it very clear that hatred is sourced in the evil one and leads to murder. He takes us back to Genesis 4 when Cain murders his brother Abel. He explains that Cain hated his brother because “his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous”. John warns us not to be surprised when the world hates us, because righteousness, in its stark contrast, exposes evil. Echoing Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, John says that “anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer”. When hatred is at the heart of a person, Christ’s life does not reside there.

By contrast love is sourced in the Lord Jesus Christ. He showed us what love truly is when He “laid down his life for us”. His sacrificial death leads to eternal life for all who will believe in Him. As we live in Him, we “pass from death into life” and His love is poured through us in to others. And how do we know that we are living in Christ? For one, we will see the evidence in the way that we love one another. This will be seen in tangible ways as we provide for those in need and sacrifice for others. We will also know by the Spirit who testifies to our spirit that we are His children.

Although John is teaching us through the clear contrast of love and hate, this doesn’t mean that we as Christian won’t sometimes fall short and fail to love as we ought. In those times when we are experiencing that conviction, we must turn to the God who is “greater than our hearts”, allowing His love to fill every crevice of our hearts so that we can better love others. And so that we, as the Church, can be a beacon of Christ’s love and life to a world suffering in deadly hate.

Focus verse for prayerful reflection:

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

1. Recall ways that you are currently showing love to others at home, work, church, or in your community through “actions and in truth.” Think about where you struggle to love others or where you hold back.

2. Take some time in the silence to bring your heart before Jesus, inviting His love into every part, and asking Him to show you whom He is calling you to love today.

For further reading:

Read what Jesus says about anger and murder in Matthew 5:21-26.