This is love

This evening, I typed these chunks of verses out on a sheet of paper and passed them out to my dear friends.  After an fun-filled hour of goofiness, food, and fellowship, it was time to reflect on love, as seen in I John chapters 3 and 4.  As we went around the room and listened to each other read, I became overwhelmed by the depth of God's love for us, as well as the importance of our response.

Do you understand that He loves you?  Can I help you understand?  These verses might not make sense if you don't.  If you do believe that you are loved by the God of the universe, what is your response?

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (3:1) 

 “For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ¹² Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. ¹³ Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵ Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.”  (3:11-15)

“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 and sisters. ¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”  (3:16-17)

 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”  (4:7-9)

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”  (4:10-12)

“This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. ¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”  (4:13-16)

“This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”  (4:17-18)

“We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. ²¹ And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”  (4:19-21)

Sterilized (Summer 2009)

“What does it mean to feel?”

This question was the basis for a discussion that my adviser and I had while sitting at a corner table in a small restaurant in the mountain town of Magdalena, Guatemala. Dr. Dunkley claimed that our society was in the process of “sterilizing” its members. As the conversation went on, I slowly began to see what he meant. We were being exposed to so much sickness, labor, and overall poverty in Guatemala. We couldn’t help but contrast it to our homeland. As Dr. D reminded me, in our comfortable American middle class society, we do not have to feel hot if we don’t want to. We can switch on the air conditioning and be comfortable.  If it is winter and we are cold, we simply turn on the heat. We have the means to keep the cold food cold and the hot food hot, and can even purchase it ready to eat. We can't even wait for someone to make us a decent meal, so we populate fast food restaurants. We demand entertainment- someone to make us laugh, someone to keep us enthralled, whether in our classes, sermons, or relaxation. We can’t do it by ourselves anymore. We can’t feel depressed so we alter our neurotransmitters so that we can feel happy. We buy on credit because we want to want something. We want to have something, and we want it now.


What would it be like to wait for something? Would that make its presence more valuable? What would it be like to work for something? No, not just to put in your time, but to actually sweat and go without? What would it be like to experience joy after a season of depression?

Some know the answers to those questions, some hope they never have to, so they keep on sterilizing their lives. It’s not their fault, really. It’s the way things are.

Or is it?


Our Guatemalan friends are so happy, despite their poverty. They value what little possessions they have, but they welcome strangers into their homes with joy and give freely.

They are in the opposite of a sterile environment. There are police with machine guns in front of their shops. There are bacteria and parasites in their water. They must often wait for basic things, like education or milk. But they do not wait for the important things: they take time to smile and laugh and love.


I like being comfortable, but I also want to feel. May I be willing to leave my sterile bubble, dear Lord.

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13