“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18
To “love with words” is to feel love and speak loving words but stop short of doing anything. To “love with speech” is to profess what one does not have at all. The opposite of loving “with word” is to love in deed and the opposite of loving “with speech” is to love in truth. Love from the heart and with actions because love is prompted and proceeds from the truth and is carried out in actual deeds done for the benefit and blessing of another. Whatever tends to our brother’s salvation is done “in truth.”
Martin Luther said this, “To love a brother who is kind and pleasant in return – is a trivial matter. This is the way the world also loves. ‘The crowd judges friendships by their usefulness.’ Accordingly, John does not say: ‘Let us love those who are saintly, agreeable, and rich.’ No, he says: ‘Let us love the brethren,’ in such a way that then nothing but the brotherhood is loved and regarded; for a brother is loved out of a sense of duty, not because of usefulness and not because of praise. All the gifts we have should serve those who do not have them. For example, he who is learned should serve him who is not learned; he who is rich should serve him who is poor; he who is sensible should serve him who is foolish, etc.”
Today can be the start of a lifetime of loving “with actions and in truth.”
Blessings on your day…