[Maximum Joy Series] The Fruit of Fellowship Sample

The Nectar of Life

The profoundness of the verses we are going to meditate upon today is overwhelming. My advice is to open your heart and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you. So far, we have seen how sin stops us from being who we really are as children of God, and how much it hinders our fellowship with God and the manifestation of His glory in and through us. 

John now tackles the second barrier, hating our brother, and instructs us in right loving—the kind of love that comes from God, true and sacrificial love. In 1 John 3:10b–18 he gives us an exhortation to love (10b–11), an explanation of love (12–16), and an expression of love (17–18). Let us see these truths one by one:

Exhortation to love– “Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (3:10b-11 NKJV). 

As children of God, we do not only practice righteousness, but we also love our brother. This is the message that the apostles had heard from the beginning, it is the message Jesus gave in the Upper Room after the Last Supper (John 13) when they received the new commandment that they were to love each other as Jesus had loved them. It is crystal clear that John is calling us to love, but, what does that mean? How?

Explanation of love– “... not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous” (3:12 NKJV). 

The parallel John is drawing is brotherhood. One brother having problems with the other. The examples that come to our minds are countless. For this reason, John warns us, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (3:15 NKJV). 

The image John is painting is very strong. When we hate another Christian brother, we have the same attitude Cain had. This person is clearly not enjoying the wonderful abundant life (fellowship) Christ offers on earth. This person is being eaten up by the cancer of hatred for another brother or sister and for sure has a miserable existence. 

Then, how does John explain the principle of right loving—which is the opposite of hate? “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (3:16 NKJV). Does this not have echoes of John 15:13? “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” Those who have experienced Jesus’ sacrificial love understand what love is all about. As we live out this kind of sacrificial love, God’s abundant life will abide in us—we will experience full joy (see 1:4). 

Expression 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 indeed and in truth” (3:17-18 NKJV). 

I do not know if we will ever have the opportunity to give our physical lives for others. But what I do know is that every day, we can express love sacrificially. When our brother or sister has an emergency, when help is urgently needed, do not let the opportunity pass you by. To say we love our brother (just words) without meeting his or her emergency needs (an action required) is pure hypocrisy. 

Let’s love sacrificially, let’s give sacrificially! Unmeasured giving reaps unlimited living! To love as Jesus loved and loves us, that is the nectar of life!