MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/27/2026
9:17 AM
My
Worship Time Focus: PT-1
“John’s Commitment to Love”
In the last two SD’s we looked at
John’s commitment to truth, and now in this SD, and probably the one this
evening we will look at his commitment to love, as truth and love go together.
MacArthur writes “No one was more
committed to the truth than the apostle Paul. Yet he understood that devotion
to the truth is of little value apart from love, as he wrote in his first
inspired letter to the Corinthians:
“If I speak
with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a
noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I
have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have
all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the
poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits
me nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-3).”
“The pivotal turning point in which
John, the Son of Thunder, began to see the importance of love came in the only
incident in the Gospels in which he alone speaks. After the overwhelming experience of the
transfiguration (Mark 9:1-10), the disciples got involved in another episode of
their long-running debate over which of them was the greatest (vv. 33-34).”
(Mark 9:1-10)
“1 ¶ And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you,
there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the
kingdom of God after it has come with power.” 2
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led
them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,
3 and his clothes became radiant,
intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses,
and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And
Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three
tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were
terrified. 7 And a cloud overshadowed
them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to
him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around,
they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. 9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he
charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen
from the dead. 10 So they kept the
matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean.”
(Mark 9:33-34)
“33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was
in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had
argued with one another about who was the greatest.”
“Jesus
gently rebuked the disciples, reminding them, ‘if anyone wants to be first, he
shall be last of all and servant of all’ (v. 35). He took a child in His arms and used him to
illustrate the point that the disciples needed to receive each other as they
would Him (v. 37).”
(v. 37)
“37 “Whoever receives one such child in my name
receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
“Convinced by the Lord’s rebuke,
John confessed to another instance of the disciples’ misguided zeal: ‘Teacher,
we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him
because he was not following us’ (v. 38).
This was sectarianism, and expression of intolerance toward those
outside of their group. John’s
confession elicited another rebuke from Jesus, who told the disciples, ‘Do not
hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be
able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.
For he who is not against us is for us’ (vv. 39-40).
“John was characterized by courage,
ambition, drive, passion, boldness, and a strong devotion to the truth and
people with those qualities are vital to the kingdom of God. But John’s zeal for the truth had been
deficient in love and compassion for people.
If love without truth is characterless hypocrisy, truth without love is
indecent brutality. This confession and
the Lord’s rebuke began moving him toward a proper balance of truth and love. Although never wavering in his fierce
devotion to writings—so much so that he became known as the ‘apostle of love.’
“John used the word ‘love’ more than
one hundred times in his writings. He
taught that God is love (1 John 4:8), that the Father loves the Son (John 3:35;
5:20) and the Son loves the Father (John 14:31), that God loves all people in general
(1 John 3:16) and Christ’s disciples in particular (John 14:21, 23; 16:27;
17:23), that Jesus loves those who believe in Him (John 14:1; 15:9) and that
the supreme example of that love was His sacrificial death on their behalf
(John 15:13; 1 John 3:16), that Jesus commanded believers to love one another
(John 13:35; 15:12; cf. 1 John 3:11, 23; 2 John 5), that God’s true spiritual
children will love Jesus Christ (John 8:42) and that that love will manifest
itself in obedience (John 14:15, 21, 23-24; 15:10; 1 John 2:5; 5:3; 2 John 6),
that God’s love motivated His adoption of believers as His children (1 John
3:1), that true love will manifest itself in actions (1 John 4:7-8, 20), that
the supreme manifestation of God’s love for His people was sending Christ to be
the propitiation for their sins (1 John 4:9-10), that love removes fear of
punishment (1 John 4:18), and that God’s love motivates Him to disciple
believers (Rev. 3:19).” Now like in my
last SD’s on this section of looking at John, I will begin to quote these
verses in the order that they are given from MacArthur’s commentary.
(1 John 4:8)
“8 Anyone who does not love does not know God,
because God is love.”
(John 3:35; 5:20)
“35 The Father loves the Son and has given all
things into his hand.”
“20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him
all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so
that you may marvel.”
(John 14:31)
“31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so
that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.”
(1 John 3:16)
“16 By this we know love, that he laid down his
life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”
(John 14:21, 23; 16:27; 17:23)
“21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them,
he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I
will love him and manifest myself to him.’”
“23 Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me,
he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and
make our home with him.”
“27 for the Father himself loves you, because you
have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”
“23 I in them and you in me, that they may become
perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even
as you loved me.”
(John 14:1; 15:9)
“1 ¶ "Let not your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God; believe also in me.”
“ 9 ¶ As
the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”
(John 15:13; 1 John 3:16)
“13 Greater love has no one than this, that
someone lay down his life for his friends.”
““16 By this we know love, that he laid down his
life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”
(John 13:35; 15:12; cf. 1 John 3:11,
23; 2 John 5)
“35 By this all people will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another.’”
“12 "This is my commandment, that you love
one another as I have loved you.”
“11 ¶ For this is the message that you have heard
from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
“23 ¶ And this is his commandment, that we believe
in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has
commanded us.”
“5 ¶ And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I
were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the
beginning—that we love one another.”
(John 8:42)
“42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your
Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my
own accord, but he sent me.”
(John 14:15, 21, 23-24; 15:10; 1 John
2:5; 5:3; 2 John 6)
“15 ¶ "If you love me, you will keep my
commandments.”
“21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them,
he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I
will love him and manifest myself to him.’”
“23 Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me,
he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and
make our home with him. 24 Whoever does
not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but
the Father’s who sent me.”
“10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide
in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”
“5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the
love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:”
“3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”
“6 And this is love, that we walk according to
his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the
beginning, so that you should walk in it.”
(1 John 3:1)
“1 ¶ See what kind of love the Father has given to
us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the
world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
(1 John 4:7-8, 20)
“7 ¶ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is
from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because
God is love.”
“20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his
brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen
cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
(1 John 4:9-10)
“9 In this the love of God was made manifest
among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live
through him. 10 In this is love, not
that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.”
(1 John 4:18)
“18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love
casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not
been perfected in love.”
(Rev. 3:19)
“19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline,
so be zealous and repent.”
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life Today: I should add that beyond truth and love is
something that I need to continue to better understand. I think of what Jesus did while on earth as
He came to earth to tell truth and show love, and that is important for all
believers to also demonstrate in their walk with the Lord.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Contentment is another thing that I, as a
true believer need to have as a part of my walk with the Lord, and I think
better understanding truth and love will certainly give me more contentment.
6/27/2026
11:06 AM
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