The Social Test of Love

Actions speak louder than words. You can claim all you want that you are religious, but your religion means nothing unless it is accompanied by sacrificial acts of love.

The Social Test of Love

"But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth."

(1 John 3:17-18)

The second mark of a genuine follower of Jesus is that he or she loves others. Jesus said this was the most important of all the commandments. We are to love God and love people (Matthew 22:37-40). The Apostle John stresses this in his first epistle. In 1 John 3:15 he makes it very clear: "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."

In 1 John 3:16, he writes, "We know love..." He uses the Greek word ginosko, which means we have come to know or perceive. We have experienced love in its truest form in the death of Jesus Christ for our sins. His love inspires us and motivates us to lay down our lives for each other. We may not be called upon to be a martyr for Christ, or we might, but we know for sure that every person who follows Jesus is called to express a love that sacrifices.

In verse 17 we read of a negative example: a closed heart, one who clearly sees the need but does nothing to help the person in need. That is not true love but selfishness. As Christians we must be willing to lay down our lives for others as Christ laid down His life for us. Remember what Jesus said in John 15:32: "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." Most, if not all of us, will probably never be called upon to lay down our lives for another, but there are other ways that we can show our love for one another.

Notice what John says: "whoever has this world's goods..." That is definitely an apt description of the church in America. We have this world's goods. We have the means to help others. Next, John says, "and sees his brother in need..." All we have to do is open our eyes and we will see the tremendous needs all around us. God may not be calling you to give everything you have, but rest assured, He is calling you to give something, and to make sacrifices, and to assist others who are in need.

Look at the way John closes verse 17 with this powerful rhetorical question. How does the agape of God remain, abide in the person who does not love by sacrifice? Well, the answer is the love of God does not abide in such a person. Again, actions speak louder than words. You can claim all you want that you are religious, but your religion means nothing unless it is accompanied by selfless, sacrificial acts of love. As long as we look at the masses, we will do little, but when we look at individuals, we are more likely to help.