Day Ten - Love in Deed,  not just in Words

1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

                  This is a very great problem in churches and in homes.  We love people easily with words,  but we don’t show that love in actions.  It is easy to say that we love someone,  but the word love needs to be demonstrated.  We know that “God so loved the world,”  but God didn’t leave it as a doctrine in a textbook.  We also read,

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The word commend means to set with,  to place with.  God is love and God loves this world,  but that wasn’t enough.  The world would go to hell for eternity even if God loved them.  God’s love was demonstrated in an action.  That action sent His only begotten Son to the cross to die for the ones He loved.  He demonstrated how much He loved us.  Jesus told His disciples,

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

There is no greater love than this.   There is no one on earth who loves you as much as God loves you.  Perhaps you have lost a loved one.  You know the pain to see a loved one suffer.  That loved one was loved by God more than He was loved by you.  God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked,  but He does take great pleasure in the death of a saint.  He writes,

Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

Death is about separation for us,  but it is about union with Christ.  Death is about suffering for us,  but for  God it is about His ability to demonstrate His love to the one who comes to be with Him. 

As a father,  are you showing your family that you love them?  There are many girls who are suffering on this earth with feelings that they are not loved by their father.  As a father,  are you showing love to your wife?  It is one thing to say that you love her in a Valentine’s card,  but another to demonstrate the love to her so that she knows that to you she is the most important person on this earth.  Church people have love for one another,  but it is very important to the church and to Christ that we show that love.  We read,

John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

The world is not impressed with the words,  “I love you.”  They use those words all the time,  but they are impressed with the deeds of love.  When Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus,  the Jews saw something unique.  They were crying and they were weeping,  but when the saw the grief of Jesus,  they said, 

John 11:36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!

An Exercise to increase our Faith:  Bring a meal over to a neighbor or someone in the church who has had some recent health problems or setbacks to show that you love that person.   It doesn’t have to be a full meal, it can be a desert or a snack tray.  You don’t have to say that you love them,  you can show it in your heart felt desire to give to them.