He Abides In Us,
By The Spirit That He Has Given Us
The children of God and the children
of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not
from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.
For this is the message you have heard
from the beginning, that we should love one another. We must not be like Cain
who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him?
Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be astonished,
brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed
from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in
death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that
murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us – and we ought to
lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has
the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
Little children, let us love, not in
word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are
from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts
condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we
receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what
pleases him.
And this is his commandment,
that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one
another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in
him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the
Spirit that he has given us.
1 John 3:10-24
A simple act of caring is a powerful expression of God’s compassion in our troubled world. A little kindness can make a big difference.