Eternity Daily Bible StudyThe Importance Of LoveNumber:03er!e!:" #ohn 3:"$%&$Topic: Lovin' One (nother Demon!trate! That )e *ave Eternal LifeDate:&0th #uly &0""" #ohn 3:"$%&$We know that we have passed over from death to life, because we love the brothers. He who does not love his brother abides in death.(15)Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abidin in him.(1!)"y this we have come to know love, because He laid down His life for us.#nd we also ouht to lay down our lives in behalf of our brothers.(1$)"ut whoever has this world%s oods, and sees his brother havin need, and shuts off his compassion towards him, how does the love of &od abide in him'(1())y little children, let us notlove in word or in tonue, but in deed and in truth.(1*)#nd in this we know that we are from the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.(+,)"ecause if our heartcondemns us, &od is reater than our heart, and He knows all thins.(+1)"eloved, ifour heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward &od.(++)#nd whateverwe should ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and we do the thins pleasin before Him.(+-)#nd this is His commandment. that we should believe in the name of His /on 0esus 1hrist and should love one another, 2ust as He ave commandment.(+3)#nd the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. #nd by this we know that He abides in us, from the /pirit whom He ave us.The bible passage above is one of the most radical passages in the entire New Testament, because it states that:1. We know we have passed from death to life if we love the brethren2. On the other hand, if we don't love the brethren we abide in death.3. If we hate our brethren we are a murderer and are without eternal life4. We know love because esus laid down !is life for us.". We should la# down our lives for our brothers and sisters in $hrist.%. &his includes la#in' down the 'ood thin's of this life that others ma# have need of.(. If we refuse to help the need# )with our 'oods* and have no compassion, we do not have +od's love,. -ove is to be active and practical not .ust verbal./. If we demonstrate this practical a'ape love we will assure our hearts before +od.10. We will also have our pra#ers answered because we are doin' what is pleasin' to +od.11. +od's commandment is that we should believe in the name of esus and should love one another.12. If we do these two thin's, which are one thin', we abide in +od and !e in us and have eternal life.Many Western Christians are terrified of beholding human needs and/or being asked for money We do not see generosity as a means of sanctification or of greater heavenly reward or of having the love of !od in our hearts We may even feel that the poor are trying to steal our hard"earned money #to spend on alcohol and drugs$%owever we are talking about the saints here& 'bout people who will not spend the money on drugs, but on food for their families, or on rent, or on essential bills We are talking about people with real needs, not (ust wants, or addictions These people are among us, especially in today)s economy Now * am not asking you to give to every panhandler, or to every advertisement on Christian T+, or to give to every cause that sends a mail"out or email to you& %owever * do believe that !od wants you to have genuine human connection and compassionate interaction with your brothers and sisters in Christ,ets (ust take on common e-ample where such compassion is both (ustified and worthy . supporting those who go out for the sake of the gospel: 3 #ohn ":+%,4ear friend, you are faithful in whatever you do for the brothers,especially when they are straners (itinerant ospel workers).(!)5hey have testified before the church about your love. 6ou will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of &od.($)#fter all, they went on their trip for the sake of 1hrist%sname, acceptin no support from the &entiles.(()5herefore, we ouht to support such people so that we can become their helpers in spreadin the truth.%owever the reaction of some power"hungry and selfish Christians /such as 0iotrephes in the NT1 is to deny such workers even their most basic needs:3 #ohn ":-%""7 wrote a letter to the church, but 4iotrephes, who loves to be in chare, will not accept us.(1,)8or this reason, when 7 come 7 will call attention to what he is doin in spreadin false chares aainst us. #nd not content with that, he refuses to accept the brothers. He even tries to stop those who want to accept them and throws them out of the church.(11)4ear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is ood. 5he person who does what is ood is from &od. 5he person who does what is evilhas never seen &od.0iotrephes threw the missionaries out of church and was hostile to those who wanted to be kind to them&This still goes on today and in my 234 years of missionary work * have seen it many times both to myself and toward many other missionaries The hardness of heart toward gospel workers in only increasing as #the love of many grows cold$ and missions support is down 53"637 from even five years ago Now * am not saying this to get you to support me /or any other missionary1 but rather to make you aware of the terrible thing that is happening in the hearts of many Christians8ractical love of the brothers is vanishing and is being replaced by mere politeness and mawkish sentimentality There is even great cruelty and rudeness to those in need, reminiscent of the rich man / man"in"rags situation in 9ames chapter : and ,uke chapter ;