Walking By Faith

A Magazine of Faith, Hope & Everyday Grace

Meyer · 1 John · Day 6

Loving in Deed and in Truth

1 John 8:18-24

Love to the brethren is a sign that we have been born into the family. We may not ike them all, yet we can love them. If we love, we live; and if we live in the deepest sense, we shall love; that is, we shall put others first, and our care for them will be tinged with the crimson of sacrifice. Love is not measured by the expressions of the lip or the emotion

of the heart, but by the extent to which we will do or suffer.

The believer dares not affirm too much about himself, he is so unworthy and fickle; but God understands us and imputes to us what we would be. Mark in v. 22 the double condition of prevailing prayer. It is also clear from vy. 23 that men can believe, if they will. God is prepared to impart to those who are wishful all that he commands. Augustine prayed thus: ‘‘Give what thou commandest, and command what thou wilt.’’

F. B. Meyer, Through the Bible Day by Day (1914–1918). Public domain.