Word for the Week
Short reflections on Bible passages, with a frontline focus...
Read
We are currently experiencing technical issues with some of our video content. If you are unable to access a video, please email [email protected] for help.
What does love look like? If you’ve come across Gary Chapman’s popular book, The 5 Love Languages, you’ll be aware of his thesis that love can be given and received in five ways: physical touch; words of affirmation; acts of service; quality time; and gifts. Love looks different depending on which ‘love language’ you speak.
In this passage, however, John is clear that there is only one way for us to know what love truly is: ‘Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.’ Because the Christian life involves the imitation of Christ, we are called to do likewise – ‘we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters’. This means actions, not just words.
Love involves self-sacrifice. This passage is clear on that – it may not be self-sacrifice that leads to the physical laying down of your life (although it might, and for many Christians around the world, this is a stark reality), but it involves cost. Love costs us something – and it often costs us something we hold dear.
John even gives an example: ‘if anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?’ These words pose a challenge to us: are there people in your church community who have material needs you might be able to meet in some way? Love gives to those in need – and John’s concern here echoes what the Bible says elsewhere of God’s heart for the poor and marginalised more generally.
Love looks like something. It is practical, visible, and active. Although we may find dividing it into five simple ‘love languages’ helpful for building healthy relationships, John is clear on one thing: authentic love is not a matter of saying the right things or making promises, but actually doing something, often at personal cost. It involves sacrificial, practical action.
What might it look like to love – both sacrificially and practically – those in your community this week? What do you have in abundance which you can give away to someone in need? In Jesus, we have a worked example of what love looks like. This week, why not be that worked example of love for someone else?
Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Nell Goddard
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__stripe_mid | 1 year | This cookie is set by Stripe payment gateway. This cookie is used to enable payment on the website without storing any patment information on a server. |
__stripe_sid | 30 minutes | This cookie is set by Stripe payment gateway. This cookie is used to enable payment on the website without storing any patment information on a server. |
_GRECAPTCHA | 5 months 27 days | This cookie is set by Google. In addition to certain standard Google cookies, reCAPTCHA sets a necessary cookie (_GRECAPTCHA) when executed for the purpose of providing its risk analysis. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
resource_download_valid | 30 days | This cookie is used to track whether or not you are able to download a resource. |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
woocommerce_cart_hash | woocommerce_cart_hash | This cookie is used to store your basket information and is required to buy items from our website. |
woocommerce_items_in_cart | session | This cookie is used to store your basket information and is required to buy items from our website. |
wp_woocommerce_session | session | This cookie is used to store your basket information and is required to buy items from our website. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_ga | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. |
_gcl_au | 3 months | This cookie is used by Google Analytics to understand user interaction with the website. |
_gid | 1 day | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form. |
vuid | 2 years | This domain of this cookie is owned by Vimeo. This cookie is used by vimeo to collect tracking information. It sets a unique ID to embed videos to the website. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
IDE | 1 year 24 days | Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile. |
NID | 6 months | This cookie is used to a profile based on user's interest and display personalized ads to the users. |
test_cookie | 15 minutes | This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. |
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 5 months 27 days | This cookie is set by Youtube. Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website. |
YSC | session | This cookies is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos. |
Author
Nell Goddard