John writes, “God is love” (1 John 4:8 NIV), and then says, “Whoever loves his brother and sister lives in the light” (1 John 2:10 NIV). So there is a connection between love and light. If love is the light, then that light must become visible through us.

We often speak of four Greek expressions of love: storgē, natural family affection; philia, friendship and affection; eros, romantic love; and agapē, the self-giving love that finds its highest expression in God Himself. It is agapē that I particularly want to focus on. First John 4:7 says, “Let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God” (NLT). Love comes from God, and when His love works through us, He reveals Himself.

But this is not simply about doing good things. It is about being led of the Spirit. Galatians 5:18 says, “But if ye be led of the Spirit…” (KJV). There are times when we are prompted by the Holy Spirit to give, to telephone somebody, to pray, to encourage, to help practically or simply to stand with somebody. And within the family of God, everyone is giving and receiving. At one moment God may use you to meet somebody else’s need, and at another He may use somebody else to meet yours. As we obey those promptings, He reveals Himself—not only to the one receiving, but also to the one giving. First John 3:18 says, “Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (NIV). Love acts, but for us it must be love that is led by the Holy Spirit.

This is what we see in the early Church. Acts 2 tells us that they devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. Acts 4:32 says, “All the believers were one in heart and mind” (NIV), and Acts 4:33 says they testified to the resurrection of Jesus with great power and that great grace was upon them. There was power, but there was also love, generosity, fellowship and family. We must never separate the two.

Jesus said, “Freely you have received; freely give” (Matthew 10:8 NIV). That reaches far beyond finances. We have received grace, so give grace. We have received mercy, so show mercy. We have received forgiveness, so forgive. We have received the love of God, so reveal the love of God.

Our testimony is not only what we say about Jesus. It is also how we act towards others. Our character must represent Christ. Galatians 5 contrasts the works of the flesh—hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions and factions—with the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23 NIV). And the first thing mentioned is love.

That is why I am concerned when Christians make a ministry out of attacking other Christians, denominations and servants of God. People have almost made a new sport out of it, building platforms and even making money by discrediting others. Now, Scripture absolutely teaches discernment. First John 4:1 tells us to test the spirits, and Jesus said to judge correctly. Truth matters. Doctrine matters. Holiness matters. But discernment is not the same as accusation.

Jesus spoke about the speck and the plank. Before concentrating on the speck in your brother’s eye, deal with the plank in your own. Sometimes I look at those who spend all their time criticising what everybody else is doing and I have to ask: where is the fruit? Where are the salvations, the transformed lives, the sick being healed, the people being delivered? It is much easier to criticise somebody doing something than to obey Jesus and freely give what we ourselves have received.

They did the same thing to Jesus. When He cast out demons, the Pharisees accused Him of doing it by Beelzebub. They saw the manifestation but discredited the source. Jesus warned His disciples that if they called the Master of the house Beelzebub, they would do the same to His household. So criticism should not surprise us. But we must make sure we do not become what we criticise.

There is a sobering lesson in Moses. Exodus 33:11 tells us that the Lord spoke to Moses “face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (NIV). Moses knew God. Yet in Numbers 20, when the people complained because there was no water, God told Moses to speak to the rock. Moses became angry and struck it instead.

And the water came out anyway. God was faithful anyway. The miracle happened. The people received what they needed. But God was grieved because Moses had not represented Him correctly.

That should make every one of us think. You can be right about an issue and wrong in the spirit in which you deal with it. You can even see God move and still misrepresent His heart. God cares about how we represent Him.

And that brings me back to love. I know personally what love can do because I got saved because somebody loved me. He was not perfect. He was an elderly man. He smoked. He was an elder in a church that did not have the Baptism of the Holy Spirit as I would later come to know and understand it. But he had love.

He knew how to reveal love, and God used that man to reach me.

More than forty years later, I am still talking about him. He could never have known how far that act of love would travel. He simply loved the person in front of him. We can become so preoccupied with what somebody does not have that we miss what God has already placed within them. He did not have all the revelation I would later receive, but he had enough of the love of God to reach me.

That is why we should never underestimate what happens when we are led of the Spirit to love somebody. It may be giving. It may be praying. It may be a telephone call, a word of encouragement or simply standing with somebody. But when the Holy Spirit prompts us, we need to obey. Romans 2:4 says that “God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance” (NIV). It is His goodness that leads people to repentance.

Jesus never compromised truth, but sinners came near Him. Broken people came near Him. The rejected and the sick came near Him. Why? Because the Father was being revealed. John 1:14 says that Jesus was “full of grace and truth” (KJV). Not grace without truth. Not truth without grace. Grace and truth.

So perhaps the question is not only, What do I believe? but also, What am I revealing?

When people encounter us, do they encounter anger, jealousy, rivalry, accusation and strife, or do they encounter love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Do they encounter Jesus?

Love is not weakness. Love does not compromise truth. God’s love is holy, and even His correction comes from love. Agapē seeks redemption. It seeks restoration. And sometimes agapē is extremely practical. It gives. It prays. It forgives. It stands beside somebody. It refuses to gossip. It refuses to rejoice when somebody falls.

So we carry on. We preach Christ fearlessly. We testify to His resurrection. We pray for the sick. We believe God for miracles. We proclaim the Kingdom. But let us never pursue the power of Acts and forget the heart of Acts.

Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35 NIV).

Jenny and I want to thank you again for your love, your prayers, your friendship and the many acts of kindness shown to us. We deeply appreciate you all. After everything we have experienced over these past weeks, this morning this is what remains so strongly in my heart: love and family.

“He that loveth his brother abideth in the light” (1 John 2:10 KJV).

May we be people who carry that light—in what we preach, in how we live, and in being led of the Spirit. 

This concludes this week’s Truth for the Journey.

Apostle Dr Alan Pateman

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