Scripture: 1st John 3 : 11-18
Most people would agree that the real hallmark of true Christianity is love. But the truth is that people mean different things by that term love. People think it means being tolerant of everything and everyone so that we never object to any action or any teaching. Others think it is about having feeling of compassion for others. But when we look at the bible we see that true biblical love is all about giving of ourselves to others.
In the first ten verses of chapter 3, John argued that a lifestyle of righteousness, or of not sinning, is the essential evidence of being a child of God. On the other hand, a lifestyle of habitual, persistent, unrepentant sin is clear evidence of being not a child of God but a child of the devil.
Now John shifts gears and brings us into a discussion of the Christian's obligation to love his brother. Now John makes a transition from a discussion of righteousness in general to a discussion of love in particular. John begins his discussion of love in vs 11.
