1 John 3:18 (GW) Dear children, we must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words. INTRODUCTION A Constant Inner Impulse. The completeness of Christian character is attained when the impulse to help and bless others springs constantly from within. It is the atmosphere of this love surrounding the soul of the believer that makes him a savor of life unto life and enables God to bless his work. AA551 [Remnant SB] COMMENTARY PEARL The completeness of Christian character is attained when the impulse to help and bless others springs constantly from within. It is the atmosphere of this love surrounding the soul of the believer that makes him a savor of life unto life and enables God to bless his work. Supreme love for God and unselfish love for one another - this is the best gift that our heavenly Father can bestow. This love is not an impulse, but a divine principle, a permanent power. The unconsecrated heart cannot originate or produce it. Only in the heart where Jesus reigns is it found. We love Him, because He first loved us. In the heart renewed by divine grace, love is the ruling principle of action. It modifies the character, governs the impulses, controls the passions, and ennobles the affections. This love, cherished in the soul, sweetens the life and sheds a refining influence on all around. AA551 COMMENTARY The Best Expression of Love Is Time Its easy to go through life stressed and overloaded. But getting your relationships right is one significant way to reduce the stress you feel. Yesterday we looked at one truth about life and relationships: The best use of life is love. Today well look at a second truth: The best expression of love is time. You may think that love is spelled L-O-V-E. But a better way to spell love is this: T-I-M-E. The Bible says in 1 John 3:18, We must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words (GW). When you love someone, do you know what gift you desire most from them? Their focused attention. When I love you, I want to see your eyes. I want to talk. I want to listen. I want to commune. I want to fellowship. I want you! The greatest gift you can give anyone is your time - because your time is your life. Time is your most precious commodity. You only have a certain amount of it. God has already decided the number of days you are going to live; youre not going to get any more. You can always get more money, but you cannot get more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving that person a portion of your life that you will never get back. Thats why your time is the greatest gift you can give. Many people are in time-starved relationships. They may live in the same home, but theyre passing each other like ships in the night. Even though they give a goodbye kiss here and there, their relationship is shriveling. Its drying up for lack of attention. Many things can rob a relationship. Work can rob a relationship. Activity can rob a relationship. Too much church involvement or ministry can rob a relationship. Even hobbies can rob a relationship. You may wonder, How can I find more time for those I love? Start by turning off the TV, unplugging the computer, and putting down your phone! It's amazing to me that people spend so much time in the virtual world while neglecting the people right beside them. If you want to revitalize a dying relationship, a dying marriage, or a dying friendship, start with investing more of yourself by giving the gift of your time. [Daily Devotional by Rick Warren: https://pastorrick.com/devotional/] The Best Time to Love Is Now Weve been looking at the truths you need to remember if you want to focus your life and strengthen your relationships. Weve learned that the best use of life is love and that the best expression of love is time. The third truth is this: The best time to love is now. Proverbs 3:27-28 says, Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it. Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now (GNT). Why is now the best time to express love? Because you dont know how long youre going to get the opportunity to show love. Circumstances change. People die. Children grow up and leave home. Youre not guaranteed tomorrow. If youre going to express love, youd better do it now. Charles Colson and George McGovern were at opposite extremes in the political spectrum. In fact, in the 1972 presidential campaign, they worked on opposite sides. But they both ended up with the same regret. Colson wrote, As I think back on my life, my biggest regret is not spending more time with the kids. Making family your top priority means going against the culture where materialism and workaholism are rampant. It means realizing you may not advance as fast in your career as some do. It means being willing to accept a lower standard of living, knowing that youre doing the right thing for your children, giving them the emotional security that they will draw on for the rest of their lives. McGovern wrote a book about his daughter Terry, who died of alcoholism in 1994. After the tragedy, McGovern poured over Terrys diaries and discovered that he was not as good a father as he thought hed been. While he was spending 18-hour days fighting for political causes, Terry was at home writing in her diary that she missed her daddy but that he probably didnt miss her because he probably didnt care about her. McGovern wrote in his advice to parents, Show more love to your kids by spending more time with them, especially during the adolescent years"no matter what it costs your career. That way neither of you will have regrets. Id give everything I have for one more afternoon with Terry, just to tell her how much I love her and have one more of those happy times that we used to have all too infrequently. Friend, the question is not if youre ever going to regret a frantic, overloaded, stressed-to-the-limit lifestyle. The only question is when. When its too late? After your family has fallen apart? After your children are grown? Look around at the people in your life. The time to love them is now. Thats worth repeating: The best time to love is right now. How would your life change if you lived out this truth each day? Taken from Proverbs 3:27-28 (GNT) [Daily Devotional by Rick Warren: https://pastorrick.com/devotional/] CLOSING THOUGHT Love Is an Action Love is more than attraction and more than arousal. Its also more than sentimentality, like so many pop songs suggest. By this standard, is love dead when the emotion is gone? No, not at all. Because love is an action; love is a behavior. Over and over again in the Bible, God commands us to love each other. And you cant command an emotion. If I told you, Be sad! you couldnt be sad on cue. Just like an actor, you can fake it, but youre not wired for your emotions to change on command. You know that truth if youve ever told a little kid, Be happy! Im trying, daddy! If love were just an emotion, God couldnt command it. But love is something you do. Yes, it can produce emotion, but love is an action. The Bible says, Let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions (1 John 3:18 NLT). We can talk a good act: I love people. But do we really love them? Do you really love them? Our love is revealed in how we act toward them. [Daily Devotional by Rick Warren: https://pastorrick.com/devotional/] LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY 1 John 3:18 - The Completeness Of Christian Character. http://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20230302-0746.html LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT https://abible.com/links/