A devotional from 1 John for the YWAM Kyiv staff by Angela Doerksen
“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)
Five years ago my mom passed away. While she was dying of cancer, she painted me a small picture and wrote a little message on it. Since the war began we have moved houses four times, and gone back and forth to Canada a few times. Every time that painting has travelled with me in my carry-on and I always put it beside my bed. They are special words and I never want to lose them.
That is how I feel when I read 1 John. John is an old man now, the last one still living who walked with Jesus. He writes like a grandpa to people he loves, calling them “little children” and “beloved” over and over. False teachers were telling the church that only a few people with secret knowledge really belonged to God. So, John gives his children a simple way to know who is a true Christian and not one of the deceivers. Scholars have called them the three tests of life: What do they believe about Jesus? How are they living? And do they love one another?
The first two matter deeply. But this year, as we carry the theme “Let us love and serve one another,” I want us to look at the third one more in depth.
It Starts with the Love of God
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God… We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:7, 19)
John reminds his readers that true love, the one we are called to walk in, comes first from God to us. John deeply understood that love. In the gospel he wrote, when he refers to himself, he says, the disciple that Jesus loved…
I still remember the day when Cassie was born. I was holding her my arms and I just started crying. Ben asked me what was wrong, and I told him I was thinking about how one day she would die. She was one day old, and I was already so crazily in love with her that I couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. I still can’t really put into words the love that a parent feels for their child. The love that God has for us is much deeper and greater than that! We have been born again, and we are His beloved. We can only give away what we have first received.
Love You Can See
“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (1 John 3:16)
For John, love is never just a feeling or a nice word. He was in the room when Jesus wrapped a towel around His waist and washed the disciples’ feet, and he heard Him say, “Love one another: just as I have loved you” (John 13:34). So, when John writes that if someone sees a brother or sister in need and closes their heart, God’s love can’t really be in them (3:17), he is perhaps thinking of that very moment.
Laying down our lives mostly looks very ordinary. Staying late to help someone finish a task. Carrying groceries from the parking lot to someone’s apartment. Offering someone a ride to Slavutich. Helping unload a truck with aid, even though you are tired. Noticing who is quietly running on empty. Leaving a stack of hryvnas for someone who you know is struggling. These small things are what love looks like in real life.
A question for you: Who on our team is in need right now, and what is one thing I can actually do for them this week?
Love Close Up
“No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:12)
It can be easier to love the people we serve as YWAM than the people we serve with. We work closely, we get tired, we see each other’s rough edges. John is honest about this: we can’t say we love God, whom we have not seen, if we won’t love the brother or sister right in front of us (4:20).
But look at the promise in 4:12. Nobody has ever seen God, and yet when we love one another, He lives among us and His love comes to completion in us. The world may not see God directly, but it can see a team that genuinely loves each other. That might be one of the most powerful things we have to offer.
A question for you: Is there anyone on our team I need to forgive, encourage, or simply draw closer to?
Serving Those Who Serve
Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. (3 John 5-8)
There is one extra point I want to make. In his third letter, John thanks his friend Gaius for opening his home to travelling workers, even ones he didn’t know, and says that by supporting them we become fellow workers for the truth. In John’s day, love meant a bed, a meal, and sending people on their way well. I think it still does. Every guest we host, every team we receive, every co-worker we help get back on their feet is part of the same work.
If Only This Is Done
The church father Jerome tells a story about John in extreme old age. His disciples had to carry him into the church, and all he would say was, “Little children, love one another.” Eventually they got tired of hearing it and asked why he always said the same thing. He answered that it was the Lord’s command, and if only this is done, it is enough.
I love that. After everything John had seen and written, this is what he wanted to leave with his people. It is what we as a leadership team also felt should be a focus for us this year.
A Prayer
Father, thank You that You loved us first. Fill us again with Your love, so that we have something real to give. Give us eyes to see the needs around us and hands that are willing to serve. Where we have closed our hearts to one another, soften them. Let Your love be made complete in this team, so that people can see You in how we treat each other. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Leave a comment