Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

Think of someone you have known in your life who was a Godly person. Someone you have a great deal of respect for. You probably see them as a having a strong faith, not because of their knowledge of the Bible but because of their actions. It was the way they treated people, how they card for those around them, how they loved, which caused you to notice and admire their faith in action.

1 John 3:18 says, “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” I know we have all heard the saying “actions speak louder than words.” It is absolutely true. As Christians, people should see Christ in us, through our actions. There should be fruits of the Spirit evident in our lives. If we see someone in need, we should act. We should serve because our hearts desire to serve, not to check off something on our perpetual to-do list. The fruits of the Spirit show up in our lives because the Holy Spirit works in us and through us to complete good works.

In verse 23, John says, “And this is his command: to believe in the name of His son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” Jesus commanded us to obey him and to love one another. It was not an ask or a request. It was a command. How we treat people matters. Of course, some people are more difficult to care for. And many will refuse to love God and follow Him. We do not control that. I tell my children all of the time, we control our attitude and our effort. As Christians, our attitude should be one of joy, and our effort should always be 100 percent every day in service to our Savior and Lord.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Take some time to reflect on God’s overwhelming love for us.
• Prayer: Lord, thank You for sending Jesus to this world to save me from my sins. Lead me today in my actions so they will reflect You and Your character. And lead me to show Your love to everyone I encounter. In Jesus' name, amen.

Family Devo: 1 John 3

By: Tina Bryant

When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model.   

Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset  

As we read today’s passage, what really stuck out to me was verse 11, “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” But what does love really look like? If you look at verse 16, it says, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us...” 

Who do you think this verse is talking about? That’s right, JESUS. To lay your life down for someone else means to die so they can live. Jesus showed us what it looks like to really love 100% when He died in our place, so we didn’t have to die. Verse 18 tells us the secret of how to love! “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”  

We weren’t created just to say the words, “I love you,” and this verse tells us how we should love. Deed means something that is done, and action. To love in deed means doing something thoughtful, kind, or caring to someone else because you love them. Truth means real things or facts, the opposite of a lie. To love in truth would be a result of the deeds we do that show someone we really mean we love them.  

Prayer: God, thank You for sending Jesus to show us what it really means to love. Help us to show others that we love them in the way we treat them each day. Help us to be thoughtful and kind with our actions just as much as with our words.