1 John 3:23

Devotional Thoughts

By David Wilkerson

I know a godly businessman who was invited to serve on the board of a Christian organization. At his first meeting, he was shocked by the politics and infighting he witnessed. He called me up, bewildered, asking, "Is it this way in every ministry? I expect this kind of thing in business, but I'm discouraged by what I saw and heard among these men. They can't sit down in the Spirit of Christ and work out their disagreements."

I tell you, it's impossible to be truly holy without total obedience to our Lord's command to love one another. Jesus said, "The whole law is fulfilled in this - that you love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself" (see Matthew 22:37-40). Indeed, God tests our love for him by the love we show to our Christian brothers and sisters. "If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen’ (1 John 4:20).

You can sing God's praises in church, you can serve food to the homeless - but if you carry a single grudge against anyone, your love for God is in vain. Scripture says if you harbor evil in your heart toward another, you're an outright hypocrite in God's eyes.

Loving those who've wounded us is not an option, but a command. "This is his commandment, , that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us" (1 John 3:23). "These things I command you, so that you will love one another" (John 15:17).