Today's reading: Isaiah 27; 1 John 3
Maybe it's because I was just writing about it a few days ago when we read 1 Peter 4, but I can't stop thinking today about John's insistence that we love one another.
The first half of 1 John 3 is really a continuation of what John has been harping on for the first two chapters, that if we know the Lord, we should live like Him in righteousness. Then, as an extension of that same line of thought, John moves into calling his readers to love one another.
I just think this is interesting, that the primary way he wants us to imitate Christ is by living a righteous life (not actively indulging in a life of sin), and then his second priority is that we love one another. In these two ways, first and foremost, John would have us follow in the footsteps of our Savior.
I'm not sure what I would say if someone asked me what the two most important things were for a Christian to focus on/do. My answer might change day-to-day, but I would probably say something like, "Learn the Word and share your faith," as the top two. So if that's where my thinking is at on any given day, it's probably no surprise that I am so struck by John's priorities...
Honestly, this is one way writing these posts each day has been really helpful to me personally. I'm not sure how many times I've read the bible through at this point, let alone how many times I've read any given book of the New Testament, and yet there is clearly so much that I have really just read past in the past. If I had to guess, I think some of it is a bit of contextual bias/blindness, that the beliefs and teachings of the churches I have been part of since I came to know the Lord direct my attention toward certain things that I then notice more readily, while just skipping right over the things that might make me question or nuance one of those teachings. At the same time, I think some of it is just laziness. I really enjoy reading the Bible, but am often reading it early in the morning while my brain is still kicking into gear, so many times I can read something and just keep going on without it fully registering. Writing these posts though forces me to slow down, to think more carefully, to read and re-read if I don't understand something, etc., and I think one result is just that I am noticing a lot more where maybe my own thinking does not align with the Lord's.
But if we are to take John seriously, then our top priorities in the Christian life should be walking in righteousness, and loving one another, not just in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.
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