By Andrew Williams – August 17, 2021
“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” III John 1:2 NKJV
Good morning fellow disciples.
Beloved means :”dearly loved or ;dear to the heart.” When persons think of you do they use this word to describe you? Does your pastor, your elder, your overseer, your bishop or, someone who has taken you under their wings spiritually consider you to be dearly loved by them?
As we fellowship with one another in secular or church worlds, does the relationships that we have with one another cause us to feel love for others, or to be loved by others in this way? In this verse John the apostle is speaking of his disciple in very loving terms. They must have built a relationship that was based on the love of Christ Jesus, and their common faith in Him.
As Christians, when we truly love God, we will have this sort of love for one another. If we don’t then it means that something is wrong with our relationships with each other, our fellowship with God, or we may just be hypocrites who are pretending to be Christians.
If you are a Christian and you are not beloved by your fellow Christians, or you don’t feel this way towards your fellow Christians then we need to examine:
1. Our relationship with God,
2. Our understanding of what it means to be a Christian,
3. Our surrender, submission and obedience to God, and
4. How we are taught and discipled.
Beloved means :”dearly loved or ;dear to the heart.” As we examine ourselves today, let us strive to be persons who are beloved or persons who look at others as being our beloved.
Prayer : Father God we are dearly loved by You. Help us to treat You as our beloved and others the same. Where we have missed the mark Lord, we repent ! From now on, we will keep You and our fellow disciples “dear to our hearts”. Help us to achieve this through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.
