By Andrew Williams – October 2, 2021
“The Elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth:” III John 1:1 NKJV
Good morning fellow disciples.
The Passion Translation of this verse is as follows: “From the elder to my dearly loved brother Gaius, whom I truly love:” Today we will focus on the term “whom I love in truth”. In this verse, we see John, an Elder of church writing to a beloved disciple whom he truly loves. This brings to mind the following question: “As leaders in the church do we truly have this kind of love for our church members?”
If we do, have we been expressing this love to them? When we express this love to them how do we say it, and how do we show it? In today’s society, some leaders may be shy to express their love for another disciple of the same gender. Expressing love to someone of the opposite sex sometimes may lead to problems and leaders sometimes shy away from doing so.
This stance is understandable when we are just thinking about the expression of love.
However, this verse uses the words,” whom I love in truth”. From The Passion Translation, we see that this can also mean, whom I truly love. The Bible says there is no fear in love, so when we truly love someone we should not have any fear in the way that we express that love. If that love is Godly love, then the way that that true love is expressed will be pleasing to God and man.
“Whom I love in truth” can also be interpreted as loving someone because of their shared common faith. This shared common faith is based on knowing the truth of the Gospel as presented by the Lord Jesus Christ. One of Jesus’ commandments was that we should love one another. The apostle John is just obeying this commandment.
Have you been obeying Jesus’ commandment to love one another? Do you truly love your fellow disciple or the one that you have been shepherding? How do you express that love in a way that is honoring to God?
Prayer: Lord Jesus You have commanded us to love one another. Your word says that there is no fear in love. Today I choose to obey and honor You by showing love to my disciples. May our shared love truly show that we are Your disciples.
Father God, I truly love my fellow disciples and I will continue to show love to them. I will seek to know Your word, live according to Your word, and live obedient to Your Holy Spirit so that the love that I show to others will be the type of love that You require me to give. This I pray in Jesus’ name amen.