Lesson 9
1 John 3:11-18 New International Version
11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,[a] if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 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? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
First Impression?
- Follow Jesus’s Example, Do not be surprised, murderer, All you need is love, remains in death, opposites of love and hate.
What comes to mind when you read “love one another”?
- Kind, Compassion, Intentional, Care, Umbrella, Law #2.
Why is a cause of murder “his own actions were evil”?
- Evil is the opposite of following God and when you are not following God, the life of another is not valuable enough to prevent murder.
What comes to mind when you read “his brother’s were righteous”?
- A source of hatred when others do better than you do.
The world hates you. Why is this so hard to accept?
- People do not want to do what is hard and being open to hatred makes life hard.
We know because we love. How is this different from how nonbelievers love?
- This love is sacrificial not selfish and builds other up rather than tear them down.
How can a Christian commit murder?
- By not loving our enemies, or anyone else for that matter.
How do we lay down our lives?
- In small pieces every day. It is not a single big act, but a constant flow of little ones.
How can we have pity?
- Let the love of God for others flow through us. however He leads.
Why are we commanded to love in actions and not words or speech?
- Intentions are worthless and only acts have impact. Wanting to do good is not doing good.
One of the great things about this study is making everyone think about the question and trying to make the answers personal. I do not do this to spoon feed and sometimes I use hot topics to push buttons. The goal is not just to learn, but to see how we might understand in a new light that may improve how we respond to the world.
The basis for these verses for me is that love comes from relationship with God and all else is evil (when we define evil as not with God). We either love people and do so in sacrificial actions or we are murderers putting ourselves before them. Evil people hate it when good people are good because it makes them look bad. They cannot just let it alone; they have to respond.
At the end of the gathering, we were in violent agreement. It was a good outcome. Almost as if we loved each other, or something.