Thursday, May 11, 2023

           ⁷ My dear friends, this command I am writing you is not new; it is the old command, the one you have had from the very beginning. The old command is the message you have already heard. ⁸ However, the command I now write you is new, because its truth is seen in Christ and also in you. For the darkness is passing away, and the real light is already shining. ⁹ If we say that we are in the light, yet hate others, we are in the darkness to this very hour. ¹⁰ If we love others, we live in the light, and so there is nothing in us that will cause someone else to sin. ¹¹ But if we hate others, we are in the darkness; we walk in it and do not know where we are going, because the darkness has made us blind.

           ¹² I write to you, my children, because your sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ. ¹³ I write to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you have defeated the Evil One. ¹⁴ I write to you, my children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you are strong; the word of God lives in you, and you have defeated the Evil One. ¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you do not love the Father. ¹⁶ Everything that belongs to the world—what the sinful self desires, what people see and want, and everything in this world that people are so proud of—none of this comes from the Father; it all comes from the world. ¹⁷ The world and everything in it that people desire is passing away; but those who do the will of God live forever.                                                           1 John 2:7–17

       John commonly uses the images of darkness and light to convey spiritual reality.  The light is associated with love; darkness is associated with hatred or (as I would say) indifference.  And he encourages me: “Live in the light.”  I sense God calling me to a different kind of love than I have known.  One that places Him above all else.  One that touches my neighbors whom I have grown indifferent to since I hardly know them except for a casual wave.  One that becomes indifferent to the things of this world.  I expect the forgiveness of others; yet, I am slow to offer forgiveness to others.  I expect the kindness and generosity of others; yet, I am slow to show kindness and generosity to others.  How can I claim to love God whom I have never seen when loving my neighbor who I see every day seems to fail me!  O God, love me through me; and love my neighbor through me too!  Amen!