Devotional: Who Do You Love? 1 John 2:15-17

One of my fondest memories is of an incident that took place when I was in the third grade. That was sixty-two years ago and I was only eight years old. What happened? It was Valentine’s Day. Our teacher had us to form a circle. She passed out cards to each of the students. She had written instructions on each card, and the students were instructed to carry out the instructions on their card. Now, I do not remember what was written on anyone else’s card. On my card it said, “tell who you love.” Now I will admit that I had not thought about this before. I really did not know what to say. I looked around the room. A couple of the girls that I was fond of are my cousins, so I certainly could not name them. Then, I looked and saw this girl laughing. She was cute and I liked her. I called out her name and everyone laughed.

This young lady and I never had any kind of romantic relations. However, when I was in the eleventh grade I had allowed my grades to fall significantly. One day I overheard her say to some friends, “I heard that Myles is getting dumb.” This stung me. I begin to try to get myself together. You see, there was a sense of love and respect that I had for this young lady. I cared about what she thought of me. Today, I remember how this classmate influenced my life.

In today’s text, the writer tells us that who we love will influence our lives. They will impact our values, our decisions, our thoughts, and our behavior. If I love the world I will build my life on the things that the world offers. I can choose to love God and I will be loved by others that love God. The proof of our love for God is seen in how we love God and others that love God also.

Prayer: Father, we thank you for your love demonstrated in your giving your Son to die for our sins and reconciliation to you. Teach us to love others. Amen.