In 3rd John, we read about the testimony of a bunch of Christians referred to as children by John the elder. The information about John is provided to give us perspective. His title reflects both his natural age and his maturity in the faith. In this letter John describes the joy of hearing about the acts of love that people in the church show others. Then he describes a guy who is basically power hungry and a control freak. It's very bad that when other people within the church come through, he doesn't allow the people within his sphere of influence to help or interact with others within the church. He wants to be the king of the hill. Have you ever wanted to be the person with all the attention? How about the person that is so protective of position or influence that manipulation is seen as the the way to maintain a sense of power? The elder, and by extension God, talks to us as His children, and warns us not to behave that way. Instead, we are encouraged to help, show hospitality, demonstrate love and grow. A contrast is drawn that demonstrates a good way to live and influence people and a bad way to live and influence people. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman, and in our quest to be more like Dad, John shows us the attitudes we need to be more like Him.
1 John 9-12
A Jesus follower
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