1 John 3:19-24
9 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
“And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.” By what do we know we are of the truth? Verse 18 tells us. “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” Our love for others serves as a consolation and assurance to ourselves that we are of the truth, much in the same way our willingness to forgive those who sin against us is an external sign that God has forgiven us. We forgive others because God has graciously forgiven us. So it is with our love. We love others because God first loved us by sending His only-begotten Son in flesh to bear our sins and be our savior.
The love the apostle encourages is not just in word and tongue, but in deed and truth. St. Paul describes this love in 1 Corinthians13. Love love suffers long and is kind, does not envy, does not parade itself, isn’t puffed up, doesn’t behave rudely, doesn’t seek its own, isn’t provoked, thinks no evil, and rejoices in the truth.
But who loves like this all the time? Who doesn’t fall short of such love? Who loves all their neighbors as they love themselves at all times? The Christian’s love for others, like their love for God, is still incomplete in this life. We don’t always love as we should. When we do love our neighbor, how often is there more we could do for them to help them? If we honestly evaluate our love, we see it is—at best—incomplete.
So John writes, “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.” God forgives our lack of love and gives us new hearts that love others. He reminds us that our incomplete love for others is pleasing in His sight because it is done by faith in His Son. He gives us His Holy Spirit so that we might love others as we love ourselves. That love benefits them and serves as an external sign that we have received God’s love in the gospel.
Let us pray: Increase our faith, O Lord, so that as we grow in our appreciation for Your love for us we may grow in true love for those around us. Amen.
