"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death" (1 John 3:14).

Do you know that if somebody is born again, and you are born again, that person is more your family than your mama, your daddy, your uncle, or your cousin? And do you know that as much time as you spend with your mama and daddy and cousins and sisters and brothers, you're going to spend a whole lot more time with that other saint of God, because you're going to be with them throughout all eternity.

So it's time we start loving on people. We should love on them whether they're black, white, red, brown, or yellow, whether they're tall or short, heavy or light, or whatever they are. We've got to love them - they're our brothers.

The Bible says, do good to all men, but especially to them of the household of faith. Sometimes the spirit of God just wants you to minister love to somebody. It's the act of love that sometimes turns a person around. Just the act of love.

Giving is a sign of an expression of love. We know that. For God so loved the world that he what?

He gave.

If you love, you want to give. That's what marriage is about. Marriage is not about receiving. Marriage is finding somebody you can give to, that you can bless. Whose life you can make a difference in.

The church is a place of giving. Giving of prayers to others because your prayers have consequence. The Bible says, the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous, they are dynamic in His work and they work. You are giving to somebody when you pray for them.

I want you to know that God loves you. And he expects us to operate with this kind of love. He said, we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. We know we're saved because we can love anybody regardless of how they act. That's because we have in us the God kind of love.

"And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Rom. 5:5).

I want you to notice what it says, And hope maketh not ashamed because the what? "Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost...." You have in you the agape love. The God kind of love. It's there. Now, it might be buried, but it's there. It's inside you, and all you need to do is become a worshipper of God.

What happens when you worship God?
The more you worship God, the more the flesh gets out of the way. Sometimes you've got to tell your body and mind to shut up and say, I don't care, knees, if you do hurt. I'm going to worship God right now.

And you know what will happen? What's on the inside of you is going to come out. It's the joy of God, but not only is it the joy of God, but it's the love of God. Love never fails - it is shared abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. And more than anything else, what wins people is love.

You just can't say it enough - I love you. You've got to tell everybody, I love you. Nobody can fight love too long. I mean, they may struggle for a while, they may try to get away from it, and they may lash out to see if you'll stop. But if you'll keep going - it don't matter what they do, you love them - they're going to find their way to you eventually.

That's what Jesus did. They cussed Him out, they cursed Him, they beat Him, they pulled the beard out of His face, they crushed His skull with thorns, and all Jesus said was, Father, forgive them. They just don't know what they're doing.

God loves you so much. And we must love one another. And when we love one another, we decide not to fight. You have a choice whether to fight or not. In fact, Proverbs says that a soft answer turneth away wrath. So that tells us that there's more than one kind of answer. There can be the hard answer, or it can be the soft answer, I love you regardless.

If we go back to 1 John, chapter 3, it says, we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in what?

Death.

That's death and all its ramifications. When the Bible talks about death, it's not just talking about the cessation of your heart beating. When it's talking about death, it's talking about every realm of death. Sickness is death. Poverty is death. Fear is death. Depression is death. Strife is death. All those things are death.

He that doesn't love his brother will abide in all these things. He'll wind up in strife, he'll wind up in sickness, he'll wind up in fear, and he'll wind up in poverty, because the power of God will stop working in his life.

See, the grace of God operates long beyond when we should have gotten zapped upside the head. God is merciful - He's full of love and He's full of grace - but that does not mean that if you continue down that course, that death won't catch you. All the ramifications of death. He that does not love his brother abides in death.

Let's keep reading in verse 15: "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."

You say, but I thought a murderer was just somebody in prison. No, there are people sitting in church every Sunday who are murderers, and they're not going to be judged by any court except the court of heaven.

"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16).

Here's a real measure of love. Love is willing to sacrifice to the highest degree, pay the ultimate price, which is your life. A man that says that he loves his wife must be willing, if necessary, to die for her.

The world's definition, particularly with men today, is that their whole thought about women is just to use them. It's true on the other side too. I mean, the whole world is about using people.

If you are married just to get what you want, the moment you stop getting what you want, you'll say, I don't want you no more, I don't love you no more, we have to get a divorce because we have irreconcilable differences. I'll tell you what was irreconcilable - you couldn't get what you wanted.

Love is a commitment. It is for life. I'm not divorcing Deborah for anything. I'll tell you what, I'm going to love her regardless. God gave her to me and me to her. You know what that means? If I love her, I will defend her to the last ounce of blood. And you know, she loves me the same way. Love requires commitment. It means going all the way.

Let's read again what it says: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us and...." Uh oh, he's not through. "And we...." First he talks about what God did, and then he comes back to what we have to do.

That's the way the Bible is. God will talk about what He did for you, and then what He wants you to do for somebody else. God gave, He wants us to give. God forgave, He wants us to forgive.

Forgiving Those Who Don't Deserve It
You've got to let some stuff go. You've got to forgive some folks, even if you are right and they are wrong. As far as God is concerned, that's got nothing to do with you having strife in your heart. You may have to deal with some unpleasant situations, but God will not allow his children to have strife and hatred in their heart, despite the circumstance.

If there was anyone who had the right to do something, it was God where we were concerned. He made for us such a wonderful, beautiful planet. He gave man everything he could ever want in the garden. He gave man a wife, the most beautiful ever created. He gave them everything and they didn't even have to work. All they had to do was just fellowship with God every day. And they turned their backs on God to follow His enemy.

The Lord could have told Satan, "Well, you want them? Have it your way." And walked away from us. But He said, I'm not going to leave them with Satan. The only thing he's going to do is kill, steal and destroy them. I've got to rescue them. And he sent his son Jesus to rescue us. Oh, praise be to our God.

We perceive that we ought to lay down our lives for whoever lays down their lives for me. We ought to lay down our lives for whoever is good to me. You know, God didn't even qualify it. Just said "the brethren". That means any brethren.

"You mean not only does he expect me to be willing to do whatever is necessary for my wife, he also wants me to be willing to do whatever is necessary for others?" Yes, and for all of us.

Now, if we don't have fellowship, one with another, we won't develop like we ought to. Time has run out for just coming to church, grabbing a seat, getting the message, running out the door. Church is an opportunity for love. You never run out of people to love on, and people to love on you.

I don't know about you, but I don't want anybody lost. God loves everyone, so let's make sure that our love is shown.

Copyright © Keith Butler Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.