This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
1 John 3:11 NLT
John isn’t introducing a new command. He’s re-establishing a non‑negotiable one.
Before sin fractured the human story, love was already written on the heart. Before we learned how to hide, compete, compare, or self‑protect, we were designed to reflect the nature of God. John calls us back to that truth — not as nostalgia, but as evidence.
This passage is not meant to condemn us. It’s meant to examine us — honestly and without excuses.
Love and Murder Live in the Heart
John makes a sobering claim: love and murder both originate in the same place — the heart.
Cain didn’t become a murderer when his hands struck his brother. He became one when his heart refused correction. Scripture tells us plainly:
“We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous.” (1 John 3:12, NLT)
Evil doesn’t merely ignore righteousness — it resents it and seeks to silence it. Darkness doesn’t just avoid light; it wants the light gone.
That’s why John adds:
“So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.” (1 John 3:13, NLT)
If you are pursuing righteousness — quietly, sincerely, imperfectly — expect resistance. Hatred without cause is often the byproduct of conviction without repentance.
And Jesus makes it unmistakably clear that the battlefield is the heart:
“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder.’ … But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment.” (Matthew 5:21–22, NLT)
Murder doesn’t begin with hands. It begins with anger that’s been invited to stay.
Eternal Life Has Fruit
John gives us a measurable sign — something you can actually look for in your life:
“If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life.” (1 John 3:14, NLT)
Love is evidence. Not intention. Not theology. Not “I meant well.” Fruit.
Then John draws a sharp line:
“But a person who has no love is still dead.” (1 John 3:14, NLT)
That’s not a gavel. It’s a diagnosis. Dead things don’t produce living fruit.
And if Jesus is in our heart — if the Holy Spirit truly lives in us — eternal life doesn’t just sit there quietly like a museum exhibit. It flows.
Jesus said:
“Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! … ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (John 7:38, NLT)
If eternal life is in the heart, love comes out. Which means murder — whether expressed as hatred, contempt, cruelty, or cold indifference — is inconsistent with eternal life.
Murder Is Inconsistent With Eternal Life
John doesn’t tiptoe:
“Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.” (1 John 3:15, NLT)
Notice what John does: he takes murder off the street and brings it into the living room of the soul.
You may never lift a fist. You may never raise your voice. You may never say the words out loud. But hatred can still rehearse itself in the heart — quietly, repeatedly, convincingly.
This is why John gives us the contrast.
- Love says: “You’re my brother. You’re my sister. I will move toward you.”
- Murder says: “I will devalue you, dismiss you, or erase you — if not with my hands, then with my heart.”
Eternal life cannot live comfortably beside murder.
A Diagnostic Tool: What Is Your Heart Producing?
John isn’t handing us a weapon to judge others. He’s placing a mirror in our hands.
So let’s do the heart check with the Holy Spirit — not in panic, not in shame, but in truth.
Ask yourself:
- When someone else walks in obedience, do I celebrate… or do I feel threatened?
- When I’m corrected, do I soften… or do I simmer?
- When I’m wounded, do I move toward forgiveness… or toward withdrawal and contempt?
- Do I secretly enjoy someone else’s failure?
- Have I been “right” in my theology while “dead” in my love?
Now here’s the good news: the Spirit doesn’t expose to embarrass. He exposes to heal.
This passage will do one of two things for us (sometimes both):
- Affirmation: If love is present, take courage. That love is not self‑manufactured — it is evidence that you have passed from death to life.
- Repentance: If hatred, resentment, or indifference has taken root, don’t rationalize it. Don’t decorate it. Bring it into the light and repent. Repentance isn’t humiliation — it’s freedom.
Today we don’t defend ourselves — we listen. We don’t manage appearances — we seek truth.
A Prayer of Alignment
Holy Spirit, thank You for loving us enough to tell us the truth. Thank You for searching our hearts — not to accuse us, but to restore us.
Where love is flowing, we give You praise. Where resentment, anger, contempt, or indifference have taken root, we repent and release them to You.
Cleanse our hearts. Re‑center our desires. Fill us again with the life of Jesus until love becomes our reflex and our fruit.
We choose life. We choose love.
Thank You, Holy Spirit. Amen.
Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
1 John 3:15 NLT
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