Abide: Week 11

Apr 25, 2011 by desiringvirtue

This post is part of an ongoing series called Abide: Memorizing 1 John. I have been memorizing 1 John for a little over two months now and you can read more entrees from this series by clicking here!

I’m going to be honest with you. With all of the excitement of Easter going on last week, I didn’t fully memorize my verses! They are somewhat there, but not set in my brain like I would like them to be. This is the first week that I have started out on shaky ground with my previous verses… So. That means twice as much work this week, but I am up to the challenge!

This Week’s Verses:

1 John 2:9. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.

1 John 2:10. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.

Thoughts and Musings:

Christians are to be marked by their love for one another. Jesus said that the world would know we belong to him by the way we love each other. Here John confirms this message by saying that it is an oxymoron to say that you are in the light of Christ’s love while hating another believer.

As I think about this truth I have to remind myself that it isn’t enough to simply say that I love people. My actions and words and thoughts must love them fully. That doesn’t mean that I will always agree with them or approve of their lives, but the way my heart acts toward them must always be in love. This could manifest itself through verbal interactions, praying for them, putting their needs before my own, etc…

Related Passages:

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. (Titus 3:3 ESV)

But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. (John 11:10 ESV)

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