Lessons From "the Disciple Whom Jesius Loved"

 

"Let us Continue loving one another, because love is from God."- 1 JOHN 4:7. 

"GOD is love,"  wrote the apostle John. (1 John 4:8) That simple statement reminds us of a fundamental truth: God, the Source of life, is also the Source of Love.  Jehovah loves us!  His love makes us feel secure,  happy, and satisfied.

For Christians, showing love is not optional. It is a commandment. (Read Matthew 22:37, 40.) When we come to know Jehovah well, we may find it easy to obey the first commandment.  After all, Jehovah is perfect; he is thoughtful and gentle in the way he treats us.  But we may have difficulty obeying the second commandment.  Why? Because our brothers and sisters - who are among our closest neighbors-are imperfect.  At times, they may say and do things that  we feel are uncaring and unkind.  Jehovah kbew that we would face this challenge, so he inspired some of the writers   of the Bible to include specific counsel on why and how we should show love to one another.  One of those writeers was John. - 1 JOHN 3:11, 12.

  In his writings, John stresses that Christians must show love.  In fact, in his account of Jesus' life, John uses the words "love" and "loved" more often than the other three Gospel writers combined. John was about one hundred years old when he wrote his Gospel account and his three letters.  Thoses inspired writings reveal that love must influence everythiung a Christian does.  (1 John 4:10, 11) However, It took time for John to learn that lesson. 

When John was a  young man, he did always show love.  For example, on one occasion, Jesus and his disciples were traveling to Jerusalem through Samaria.  A certain Samarian village refused to show them  hospitality.  What was John's response?  He asked about calling down fire from heaven and destroying the inhabitants of the villalge! (Luke 9:52, 56) On another occasion, John failed to show love to his fellow apostles. H eand his brother James apparently coaxed their mother into asking Jesus to give them prominent positions alongside him in the Kingdom.  When the other apostles found out what James and John had done, they were furious! ( Matthew 20:20, 21, 24) Nevertheless, despite all of John's flaws, Jesus loved him. - JOHN 21:7.

In this article, we will examine John's example and some of the things he wrote about love. As we do, we will learn how we can  show love to our brothers and sisters. We will also learn about an important way in which a family head can prove that he loves his family. 

Next time: Lessons From "The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved" - LOVE IS EXPRESSED BY ACTIONS

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