This past spring, the church family memorized 1 John 3:16-18 for our quarterly memory verse. During the month of September, the pastoral team has also been fasting together as we do listening prayer to prepare for the new year in January. As I spent some time thinking about the new year, the memory verse above from 1 John 3 came to mind. I think this verse gives us some clues about what God is up to in the Lifespring family, and how we can be prepared for what God wants to do in the new year.
Verse 16 says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” What caught my attention about this line was the word “know.” In the original Greek text, the word used here is ἐγνώκαμεν (egnōkamen). Egnōkamen means to know intimately or to have firsthand experience with something. It means to know something inside out, the way that a mechanic knows a car or a musician knows a piece of music. When this verse speaks about knowing what love is, it means having firsthand experience with the love of Jesus.
The desire to know God more deeply and to have firsthand experience with God’s love is the foundation of what God wants to do in the new year. We need to keep our fire for God alive in the next season, continuously fanning the flame and desiring to know God more. This is the bedrock of what God wants to build and do in the new year. If we are missing the desire to know God we can get nowhere, but with a desire for this we can go the distance.
So what exactly does God want to do? The next part of verse 16 gives us a clue. It says, “we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” God wants to build us up as a church family that will serve others and lay down our lives for others, especially those in need. In August, Uncle Perry spoke at TLCF to encourage us and give us a word about the new year. He spoke about the diamond vision, especially step 3 about equipping and step 4 about empowerment. He said, “the day will come when we will move from 3 to 4, and when that day comes the kingdom of God will manifest itself in power.” (watch it here: https://youtu.be/DJBP41S_SKk?t=4657) God is going to empower us for ministry.
But what will this look like? Verse 17 gives us some direction. “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” It’s so encouraging to see the way that God has used finances at Lifespring to be a blessing to others. In the past few months we’ve released funds to build several more wells, support the food bank in Willowdale, send financial help to Ukraine, and support many other missionaries and projects.
God is definitely on the move at Lifespring! God is using us to bless others, especially financially. But I think 1 John 3 also challenges us. Finances are the first thing that God asks of us, but not the last. God definitely wants us to give generously financially, and continue doing so. But this is not all that God wants us to give. We are to lay down our lives for others, especially those in need.
One significant part of verse 17 is, “if anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them…” The Greek phrase for “has no pity” there is κλείσῃ τὰ σπλάγχνα (kleisē ta splanchna), which means to “close up the heart.” The sense of the sentence is that we are not to close our hearts to those in need. In the next season, I believe that God is going to lead us more deeply into this idea of opening up our hearts and lives to those in need.
How do we get there? Verse 18 gives us an idea. “Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” The Greek word for “action” in this verse is ἔργον (ergon). Ergon is used in many ways throughout the Bible, including in reference to work, to doing a task, or to employment. In this sense, to love with action and in truth is going to take work.
Opening up our hearts to people in need is not something that will happen by itself. Sitting back is not going to lead us to laying down our lives for others. It is going to take ergon, it will take effort and work. At times we will have to leave our comfort zones and go against what may come naturally to us. If our default is to be comfortable, we will have to work against that in order to be more open to others.
This is an exciting time at Lifespring as God moves among us in new ways. May we always be faithful to God’s call in every season, and with every task that God puts before us.