Happy Friday, everyone!

In 1 John 3:18 we hear this: “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.”

This Friday (today), many of us are going to be in Spartanburg, South Carolina, helping families still displaced after Hurricane Helene. Long after the headlines fade, people are still hurting. Homes are still damaged, and families are still trying to rebuild some sense of normalcy.

And that’s where this verse becomes real for me this weekend.

John says, “Let us not love with words or speech, but with actions,” because love is more than something that we simply say.

Love sees the need.
Love serves the need.
And in this case, love carries boxes, clears debris, cooks meals, prays with people, and reminds hurting neighbors that they’re not alone.

But John doesn’t stop there, he says, “… with actions and in truth.”

Why truth?

Because good deeds by themselves can become performance.
They can become obligation.
They can become about recognition, image, or feeling good about ourselves.

But Christian action is rooted in something deeper.

Truth means our actions flow from the truth of Jesus Christ.
The truth that every person has value.
The truth that mercy matters.
The truth that Jesus first loved and comforted us.
The truth that we are called not just to speak compassion, but to embody it.

So this weekend, let love be more than words in your life.
See the need.
Serve the need.
Show up.
Encourage someone and carry someone’s burden.

And let every action point back to the truth that Jesus loves, cares, and saves.

Prayer
Dear Jesus, we thank You that You did come down to earth to love us, to bring us comfort, and that You came ultimately to save us. And we thank You that now having that salvation, having that love, and that comfort from You, You call us into mission to share that with other people. And we pray not only for the mission that’s going on here in Spartanburg, South Carolina, but Your mission that’s happening all across the nation — in fact, all throughout the world — by brothers and sisters in the faith. And that includes every single person that’s hearing these words in these devotions. Move us forward this weekend to again step into those places where we see need, to serve that need, and to share the same love and compassion that You first shared with us. Thank you for who You are. Thanks for loving us and help us to love others accordingly. It’s in Jesus’s name we pray.

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