1 John 3:18–19,“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.”
The Apostle John teaches us that genuine love is more than a feeling and more than words.
The God kind of love is always active. It is always a labor of love.
A labor of love is not motivated by convenience, recognition, or personal reward. It is always rooted in concern for another person. Sometimes a labor of love is joyful and uplifting. At other times, a labor of love requires actual labor—and sometimes it is extraordinarily difficult.
I am experiencing this in a very personal way through the journey of helping my 89-year-old father, who has dementia.
As his only child, I carry the responsibility of helping manage his life and making decisions for his care. Recently, he underwent hip replacement surgery. Although the surgery was successful, his hospital stay was complicated by severe delirium. Since returning home, I have spent many hours helping him recover physically and cognitively, organizing caregivers, managing medications, responding to confusion, and staying with him overnight for the past several nights.
There are moments when he does not fully understand what is happening. There are many moments when he is restless, frustrated, and uncooperative.
This journey is physically tiring, emotionally challenging, and financially demanding. But it is also a labor of love. Anyone who has been a caregiver understands the journey. Those who will become caregivers should practice loving in deed so that, when the season to labor in love comes, they will be able to do it.
Love in truth means recognizing that real love is not always comfortable. As a feeling, love can become a fantasy, but love in truth, expressed through deeds, will bring you back to reality. Or, as someone said, “There are things that jerk the slack out of love.” Much of our love is very slack, but labors of love bring us closer to Jesus and give us a greater appreciation of what love looks like.
This text reveals a significant benefit of loving in deed, or what we are calling the labor of love.
John wrote, “We know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.”
Our labors of love become evidence that the life and truth of Christ are working within us. There are many things that we are unable to do in our own strength. We reach our limit, we hit the wall, and we feel like we have nothing left.
However, your labor of love is actually empowering. When operating in the love and grace of God, you always receive more than you are giving.
Second Corinthians 9:10 reads, “Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness.”
God gives seed to the sower. He gives strength to those who labor in love.
Labors of love bring greater assurance of our relationship with God because we are identifying with Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all the laborers in love.
