The Little Letters - Day 12

1 John 3:18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

This section is interesting because it again reaches out to us as children of God, and it certainly shows the pastors care for his congregation. But it is also and admonition or exhortation to love one another in deed, and not just with our words.
 
It is incredibly easy to say that you love someone or something, but showing that love through action is much more difficult. We are admonished to do both of these things so that our actions will show that we belong to the truth.

I know that sometimes my actions are not what I want them to be. They sometimes believe what I believe, and therefore I have to ask the question of whether or not I really believe it. This creates a bifurcation in my heart as to whether I am really living up to the standard that I want to and feel I am expected to live.
 
However, verse 20 is a wonderful salve for my broken heart and actions. John reminds us that even when we feel like we have made a mistake, God knows more than our hearts, more than our feelings, and considers our intentions and continues to not only love us, but understand us!

This means that our failures are seen differently from God’s vantage point. And it also means that what God see’s supersedes what we see and feel about ourselves. This is really good news for all of us. And it speaks to the incredible grace and mercy that is shown to us even through our failures.
 
But our failures, just like our successes are not solely our own. We are covered in both of these situations by the grace of Jesus, by the knowledge God has of us, and by his willingness to be with us and advocate for us again and again. When we understand this, we begin to realize that the partnership we are in with God is something so pervasive and overwhelming, that we need not live in fear and regret, but rather with joy and anticipation of how God will continue to work in our hearts and see us through.

1. Have you thought about this life as a partnership with God? 
2. What does that partnership mean to you and look like in your life? 
3. How can you make good on your end of the partnership?