Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with
paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our
joy may be full. The children of they elect sister greet thee. Amen.
From his heart of love, John deeply desired to help those he
had come in contact with. This
indiscriminate love is a marking characteristic of those who genuinely obey the
command to love.
The truly loving do not make their love contingent on their
own convenience. With no presumption or expectation, the command-fulfilling
lovers do not look for anything in return. Those who love from the deep well of
God’s love find that loving is not as much a chore as it is a choice. And this
is a choice that John’s testimony in his epistles (letters) portrays. When he
is writing the “Sincerely, John” part of his letter, he opens his heart to
reveal the deep desire to be with those he loves. He knows that the
Mediterranean separates them for now, and perhaps his health does not permit
immediately, but the love is still in his heart for them.
You see, in the face of adversity, when all things were
stacked against John, he still loved. It was not good enough to say, “I am
hundreds of miles away,” or “I am too sick to carry on.” Rather, with a body
full of pain, and a distance to far to cross, John pours out his heart in verse
12 with “I wish we could be together right now, that we both could rejoice
together.”
This is not the cheap Greco-Romantic love of here today and
gone tomorrow. It is not the selfish love that flees the moment it must spend
any of itself. No, this is true, God-obeying love, selfless love that thinks
more about others than about self, love that chooses to love, even when it is
nearly impossible to. John knew that the recipients of this letter needed more
training in truth. He knew that they must be helped, and from a heart of love,
he had penned what he could to be able help them.
How do you love? Do you make sure that there is something in
it for you? Do you think of others who may be healthier than you, or hundreds
of miles away, or in your own house that need love? Do you love?
Food For Thought: In two sentences, describe biblical love.
In two sentences, describe love according to culture.
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