The Action Point

The Action Point In today’s verse, John had just explained to his readers that God’s children could be known by their righteous deeds. He cited the example of Cain: we could tell Cain didn’t belong to God because Cain hated his brother, and this hate led to evil action. Children of God are marked by a love that inspires not only feeling, but also right action. Our active love toward our brothers and sisters practically demonstrates our identity. The sad reality is that Christians’ actions often tell a story that’s the opposite of what we want to tell. Disunity in the church causes Christians to lose their credibility before nonbelievers. This is not a new critique; both Jesus and Paul repeatedly warned the early church of the effects of disunity. And although unity is not directly mentioned here, John speaks about the foundation of unity, which is love for one another. If we have truly passed from death into life in Jesus, we cannot just claim to love each other, but must actually love in action and deed. The world is watching us, judging our message by our actions. Commit to taking decisive action today—the kind that shows our love for each other with sincerity and transparency, so the world may see that God’s love truly abides in us.