1 John 3:11-18

so… the heart of this week’s text is found in verses 16-18:

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.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

if there is one thing people think they know about, it’s love.  we love stuff.  cars, dogs, enchiladas, television shows, over-stuffed chairs, electronic gadgets, football teams, air conditioning, chocolate chip cookies.  we love this stuff, right?   we know all about love, right?

could it be that our understanding of love is so warped, so shaped, so twisted by culture’s definitions that we just can’t see it for what it is?  this is love:  jesus laying down his life for us.  that’s what love is.  love is not a feeling.  love is not an impulse.  love is not an expression.  love is not an urge.  love is not a sensation.  love is selfless action taken in the best interest of another person.  love is doing what another person needs.  period.

as long as you have the stuff of life (the world’s possessions…breath and energy), you can love people.  you can disregard your own selfish interests and seek the higher good for another.  you can do it any time, any place, to anyone.

all you need is a little splangkna.  (compassion that moves to action)

• is this your view of love?  why or why not?
• is this too black and white?
• are you a hater or a lover?
• what would life a north point really be like if we started loving each other with laying-it-down-jesus-style kind of love?