1 John 3:16-20

Hi girls!

I'd like to share a particular section of my commentary on verses 19-20 of today's study! It is SO well-written, and such an encouraging end to John's section on what true love looks like and how we should put it into practice. I don't know about the rest of you, but I know I definitely wonder why loving others sometimes comes so hard, and feel as if I always have a million miles to go on my faith journey. I believe God is growing me all the time, but sometimes I feel blind to any progress.

Paul Kretzmann says in his commentary to comfort us:

"A believer naturally wants nothing to do with hypocrisy; he wants to be, rather, a child of the truth, a follower of the truth, also in the matter of brotherly love. The love shown to the brethren is in itself an evidence, a proof, of the new spiritual life in the heart of the believers. As the Christian, however, grows in sanctification, he will often find that his heart is dissatisfied with the progress made, and therefore proceed to accuse himself of lack of love. It is true, of course that, as in all matters pertaining to the righteousness of life, so also in the matter of brotherly love, we are far from perfection. And yet we can reassure ourselves before the tribunal (any accuser), in spite of the condemnation of our heart. For God is a greater, a more reliable Judge than our heart, and he has given us the definite assurance in his Word that all our shortcomings in the matter of perfect righteousness will be made up through the perfect righteousness of our Savior, as it was imputed to us by faith. He who knows all things also knows that, in spite of our faults and weaknesses, we are His children by faith in Christ Jesus, and that our imperfections are not due to our lack of spiritual willingness or to hypocrisy. Thus we may defend ourselves against the condemnation of our own heart."


To God be the glory for the generous, amazing portion of grace he extends! And that He goes an extra measure to comfort us when our consciences are too sensitive regarding our behavior. We are never "quite there" and yet He knows us better than we do, that we'll pick on ourselves, accuse ourselves relentlessly and be tempted to give into works righteousness. Thank you Lord, for keeping us centered in your grace, remembering all we are and have is only because of you. (And please continue to strengthen our love muscles! With your help we strive to run from selfishness every day!)

Have a wonderful evening :)
Love, Cait

1 John 3:11-15

This section gave me so much to think about regarding my attitude toward those around me. Like Paula and Caitlin have written, when we truly our examine our hearts, we see how inward-turning they have become. Even when outwardly I may have treated someone well, inwardly I feel that twinge, knowing my motives were actually self-promoting. How hard it is to actually love our neighbors as ourselves! Thank God His love is not small like mine.

One of the benefits of studying a book like this is how it forcibly drags us again and again to the dear cross. We can lay all these burdens on Jesus, knowing God has already buried them in ocean depths to drown.

My prayers have been filled with thoughts like these - "Oh God, forgive it all for Jesus' sake! Teach me to see others as You see them. Help me to put their concerns above my own."

I John 3:13-15

This reading reminded me of our Bible study from Sunday. Pastor talked about how unbelievers actually validate God's Word as being divine. Their anger (whether toward believers or God's Word coming up in its various forms), is a testament that the Bible is active and true. The fact that it gets under their skin (unlike other "religious" texts, such as the Koran), attests to its truth. I hope that it means their conscience is not dead, but rather bothered, because of their anti-sentiments. We can praise God that others hate us or our beliefs, because it reminds us that God is present in our hearts (we are blessed when we're persecuted), but we can also then love, rather than hate, and pray for these people, because they obviously don't have the peace and promise of salvation in their hearts, and God wants to change them and invigorate their lives as he is doing to ours. If you have to make a stand in the near future, remember that what you are standing on is powerful. God's Word is "living and active, sharper than a double-edged sword." He is with you, and will give you the strength to stand.

1 John 3:13-15

Good morning girls! :)

I read some great commentary on our verses for the day and am again assured of the important connection between a life of love and faith. They are truly and undeniably tied together, if one is without the other, that person is spiritually dead. Serious subject matter, worthy of our prayers to God for help in this area!

I do not have more than a few seconds with the computer this morning, so I just wanted to stop in and say 'hello!' and that I encourage all of you to share too what you might learn from this section of 1 John. Praying for you all and thinking of you - I hope you all enjoy the peace of Christ today and breathe deep of his love and grace every moment.

Praying for you too, Kerry, that you have a quick road to feeling healthy and whole again and that baby is safe and healthy too! Tea, rest, and relax! :)

Love to you all. ~Cait

Prayer Request

Hello to all of you beautiful girls! I have a prayer request - this past week I was quite sick, and just starting to recover now. Please keep my baby's and my health in your prayers (we're about halfway there :)). I'm so sorry I've neglected posting lately. I've been edified again and again reading your entries. Thank you for your honest words and insights into these verses of 1 John; what a blessing to participate in this study with you!

1 John 3:11-12

Paula, thank you for your post! It pretty much summed up what I was going to talk about - the difficulty in keeping our hearts pure in our attitude and behavior towards others. It is most definitely something I doubt ANY of us ladies would even in the slightest bit consider to hurt or kill someone. Of course not in their body, but what about how we treat their souls? Haven't we all experienced the blood boiling in our veins, heart wildly thumping with anger or ....hatred.... or something a bit less, like severe frustration with one who hurts us, disappoints us, differs from us, seems to think he/she is never wrong? We've all probably felt the burning shame of knowing we just spoke or thought badly of someone. It's so easy to always assume we are better than others, that we'd never come across as rude or moody...that we always wear our best behavior clothes. I know I am a transgressor in all of the above ways and more. What purpose does doing any of that serve? When I really think about a simple & honest answer to that, I know it is so that I may comfort myself, so that I may feel better, good enough. I love myself more than others when I live this way.
And suddenly, when I fall into Jesus' arms in repentance and renewed humility, I realize my worldly-born Old Adam self will always self-protect and self-honor upon instinct. It is something else entirely to let the Father of our re-birth take over with his strength and help us on the path to loving others first.
We do not need to defend ourselves; He is our defense.
We do not need to love ourselves selfishly and uncontrollably; He loves us and gives us worth.
We do not need to look the better & right one all the time; He knows each situation and heart, and will bring honor and justice in due time.

God, clean my self-centered, worried heart of all the judgment and hatred and please chip away the walls of defense I hold up against others. I am always, daily guilty and always, daily need forgiveness. Lord, fashion my heart in likeness to your heart of compassion and love. Give me assurance that you love me and know me, and finally grant me strength enough to extend love, deserved or not, to anyone that crosses my path. I trust you to guide the outcome.