Greeting
1:1 The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.
2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Support and Opposition
5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.
Final Greetings
13 I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, every one of them. (ESV)
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
This is a great verse. Perhaps you have heard a parent say this about their child and I would definitely love to hear about Tyler and Emma walking in the truth someday, but that’s not really what this is talking about.
John is writing to his spiritual children. These are people he has led to the Lord, people he has discipled as an apostle. To him they are a great investment of his love. And to know that they are continuing to follow Jesus brings him great joy, he says it is the greatest joy there is.
As a pastor, I can relate to what John is saying. It is heartbreaking for me when students I have come to know and love fall away from Christianity. It is so sad when I can see them settling into a life of sin. But to all of you who don’t stop standing, to all of you who go on to live for Jesus for the rest of your days…this will bring me great joy!
AMEN
ya Pastor Bobby. Don’t stop standing!
whom I love in truth. i need to love to read the bible more
=) — good stuff Josh!
9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.
Diotrephes is not an example I want to follow! Apparently he thought he was too cool to listen to authorities and always wanted attention/importance. While he may be an extreme example of this, these sins can creep into our lives in little ways. I need to be on guard against this type of spiritual pride!
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
Yet another awesome verse from the book of 3 John. This verse reminds me of the Gospel equation that the Partners program describes. Faith without works is dead, however works do not save you. Your repentance and faith in Christ are what enter your name in the Book of Life. The correct equation does not exclude works from the equation all together, it merely is a result of your salvation. Once you become a new creation you are called to go good works in the name of God and if you have a constant pattern of evil works (sinful), than you obviously aren’t a new creation! Many people don’t understand this and think its o.k. to have a life of sin. It’s not ok! Let’s share the RIGHT gospel with them so that more names are added to the Book of Life!
“Anyone who does what is good is from God.” Ya, I agree with your comment Austin that it’s turning from sin and recieving Jesus’s love that just makes us want to love. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, becuase God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.” 1 John 4:7-9
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
John is writing to his audience that they can’t be imitators of evil, but instead that they be imitators of what is right. And he then says that the one who does good is from God, but the one who does evil is not of God. This goes along with the concept of faith and deeds, as James spends much time discussing in his letter to the old church scattered across the world. If one is filled with the Spirit, having been saved by Jesus Christ from the penalty all sins deserve, then their life will flow with good works. This obviously is not to say that they will be perfect. However, there won’t be a pattern of continual sin that can characterize the person. Instead, they will stumble, feel conviction, repent, and strive for perfection again. And the one that lives in sin has not seen God, for he is in the darkness.
As I have been saved by Christ, and live by the Spirit, I must be living my life with good deeds to back up what I say. Because of my faith, my actions must reflect God, that I am striving to glorify him as my life is a living sacrifice to him. I need to not get down and let my head drop when I stumble into sin. This isn’t to say that I shouldn’t take it seriously, for I definitely need to, along with accountability and discipline. However, I need to repent and get back on track of striving for holiness. I need to live so well that when non-Christians look at my life, they can’t help but praise God! I need to be an imitator of what is godly and right, instead of following the flow of the world and imitating everyone else as they imitate sin. As I proclaim Christ with my lips, I need good works to back up my words!
“…but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first…”
Diotrephes—not a person I want to be. God upholds and exalts the humble, a parallel to the righteous, but shames those who are wise in their own eyes.
I am not wise, except for the wisdom that God has given me (which is fully up to God and I thank him for it). I thank God for what amount of grace he has given me because I never deserve it.
To be wise, or to have a correct understanding, in my opinion, is to understand that we are not wise. The foolish person thinks he knows it all, but the wise person acknowledges his inability to know everything, and points to God as the arbiter of Truth.
Ever since I was born (or as long as I can remember), I have had a problem with being wrong. I was stubborn. I would refuse to be wrong, and maybe you can sympathize with me. My selfish pride at work within me made me wise in my own eyes.
Now, or at least since I have become a Christian, and I think this coincides with reality of growing up, I have come more and more to realize that I am wrong most of the time. I am not wise. I do not fully understand life more than others. Yet I look to God, and in his inerrant Word and I find true wisdom, which has stood the test of time.
“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:20-25).
awesome comment spenc!
haha only girl on here so far because everyone else is at girl’s workshop… XD I gotta love God’s Word though!
3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth.
It is alllways awesome to hear people refer to you as “super religious”. I believe we talked about this last time Aliso was at small groups. It’s awesome! And the encouragement you get from your bros and sistas…it’s pretty much the best. It’s just a reminder that God is on your side and that He will NEVER leave you! I lvoe it! God is always there for you and me and I just can’t wait to see Him in heaven! MARANATHA! :D
3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth.
This is a great example of street cred! These guys are so legiT that people came up to John and told him that they were in the truth! I really want to live like this everyday and constantly live in God’s truth. When people can see that I’m different and I don’t conform to the world, they will be unable to accuse me of doing wrong and will “glorify God on the day of visitation.” (1 Peter 2:12)
I’m lovin’ this comment!! haha I find it amusing how you and my sister commented on the same verse, that’s fantastic!! ;D
Hey good afternoon every! (:
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
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4 I need to continue to be walking in the truth of the Lord.
11 That we should not copy the ways of the evil doing , but we should follow all the ways of good doing and follow the faithful and godly ways.
14. That God is coming back REAL SOON!!! And we can talk to him face to face!!
GREAT girls’ workshop today!! :) I am going to start doing the TAN method more.
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MARANATHA!!!!
<3 ALWAYS Breezy Bri
8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
This verse stood out to me because it really reminded me to always encourage others who are doing the right thing. Sometimes, i see christians doing great things and think to myself what great people doing awesome things for God. When really i should TELL them how awesome there doing for God. I know when i do something to glorify God and someone says, “Great job!” or “Way to stand up for Christ!” i get so encouraged. We all love to be encouraged and why not encourage someone else like you would want them to do to you. God loves to see christians spurring on other christians, and sooner or later, the christians you encouraged will grow stronger in God. And by helping them do that, you will be rewarded by God!!! :D
2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
Lovely chapter! This verse reminded me of encouraging others. I need to be prying for others, and especially encouraging other Christians! I don’t do it as often as I should, and I really need to! I have been encouraged before and it really is nice when someone cares for me in that way! I need to live by the golden rule and treat people how I want to be treated. From now on I need to do that by showing that I truly care for others!
15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, every one of them.
This verse speaks to how we are to PERSONALIZE our interactions with one another. This comes on the coattails of an exchange I had at work yesterday: a new patient came in (I work the front desk for a physical therppay office). When he came in I said, “Are you John?” He said, “Yes! How did you KNOW?” And I said, “I’ve been ex-PECT-ing you!” and smiled at him.
What he said was very convicting. He said, “I expect my staff to greet every one of our clients by name, even if they have never met the client before. It personalizes things, and it makes the client feel welcome. It helps to set the tone for the rest of our relationship.”
When he said it, I agreed with him. But I was thinking about it in business terms, not GOD’S business terms. God advises us through this Scripture to greet every ONE of the friends. It conveys care and love. And it deepens the connectional foundation. This is good counsel, and it convicts me to step outside of myself, and step in the direction of others, that I might be a better sister in helping us be better grounded in Christ’s love.
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
A year or so ago, I was not nearly as on fire for Jesus as I am now. I could’ve thought of tons of other things that I would’ve been more excited about than if someone told me that they were reading the bible and were more in touch with God. Now, whenever someone tells me something like that, I feel extremely happy and immediately thank God for breaking through their stubborness. I am so looking forward to that day when Jesus will come again! I am done with this world of sorrow!
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
In the last two books, John has repeatedly mentioned something like this. The fact that it keeps coming up reminds me that I don’t want to be a child of the devil for a second! I always want to be God’s child and be on HIS team.
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
The same verse that stood out to Pastor Bobby stood out to me, too. As a leader in True North I could relate to John here. I am spending time sharing the gospel with unsaved high schoolers and encouraging those of you who are saved to grow in your sanctification. It is an amazing thing to me when I see a young Christian woman, who I consider to be a “spiritual” child of mine, obeying God and living a holy life. On the other hand, few things get me more bummed out than seeing one of my spiritual children ignoring God’s Word and continuing on a destructive path of sin. I am going to log off SOTD right now and pray for all of my small group girls. I am going to pray that they would be hungry for God’s Word, like a baby is hungry for her milk, and that they would obey it in ALL areas of their lives. As Christa said today at Girls’ Workshop, “Every time you read the Bible there is something you need to go and do!” It brings me joy to see you True Northers doing what God calls you to do in His Word!
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.—This is big for me because I am surrounded by evil all the time at school and I cannot let this be a distraction to me! I need to be so focused with God that I am avoiding the temptation of fitting in with the pattern of this world. I want to be standing out from everyone! And reading God’s Word all the time will help me to get the spiritual food that I need! Like we learned in girl’s workshop, I need to be eating the Word like a new born baby!! All the time!! God’s Word is what’s going to help me and nothing else will help stay strong and to walk in the way of the LORD!
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
This verse can be hard to live out at times. Retaliating when someone does something bad to you is natural for humans; we’re all inherently sinful. But God wants us to turn the other cheek and do good instead. So next time someone makes me mad or does something to hurt me, i’ll remember this verse. I’m from God’s team, and His team does good. So instead of repaying evil for evil, i’ll do something positive instead of negative.
I read…
Verse 4… “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
John led many people to Christ in His lifetime. Nothing made him more happy than when he heard of people that keep with the faith. If we have lead someone to Christ before, we know what this feels like. For me, most of the people that I have led to Christ are in Costa Rica. I have no contact with most of them but it is one of my greatest desires that they have all kept walking in the light with our Lord.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
Paul is rejoicing in how the members of the church have welcomed new Christians, except for one man who is not very welcoming. Diotrephes likes to put himself first and not listen to authority. Paul contrasts the good behavior of some Christians with the bad behavior of Diotrephes. I can learn from both examples. The good Christians encourage me to welcome “Gentiles” or non-Christians to come to church and share the gospel with them. I need to work harder on sharing the Word and gospel with others. From the bad example, I am reminded not to ever put myself first. I should live for God, not for myself. It is so easy to become enwrapped in a busy life, but I should always give God the glory for every opportunity and make time for Him in my life. I need to listen and obey the authority, such as my teachers and parents. I can honor God through obedience. As this quote says, I should always imitate good, not evil. Also, I should set an example of good works and obedience to God for others to follow.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
This verse is pretty straight out.
You’re either for, or against God.
And your morals are pretty important in this aspect as well.
Because what one person might think is wrong, another might think is right.
However, as christians, we all need to be in harmony and all agree on what is right and wrong in the eyes of the Lord.
WWJD?
We’ve all heard it said COUNTLESS times in Sunday school, and probably got a slap wrist band saying it too at one point or another.
But it’s really a great reminder to always be thinking to do the right thing.
Sometimes it’s hard to break away from the grips of tempation, but with that mind set, turning the other way and running as fast as you can should definitely be easier.
I pray to make better decisions and to always be thinking WWJD, m100% of the time.
My life is for You, Lord! Use me for Your will and to further better Your kingdom!
3 John 1:3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth.
It’s great to see people walking in the Lord if they say they are. It’s encouraging when I see someone like that and it makes me want to live for the Lord also.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
Since girls workshop this morning, I am going to practice TANing:
Then- John the apostle wrote this command and advice to the elder (Gaius) mentioned in the first line to encourage him in his faith.
Always- Good will always come from God and evil will always be the opposite of God, therefore we as Christians should possess goodness in our hearts and make them pure for Christ. In order to shine a Christian light, you should not be doing evil things but producing good fruit and obeying God’s commandments.
Now- I need to make sure that I continue to be a good Christian role model (especially to those who are younger than me at school and dance), and do not dwell on evil things. I do not want to spend my time in the things the world loves, but the things God loves to see in my life. I should also try to influence others from not doing evil (like not cussing or taking God’s name in vain.)
good job TAN-ing:)))
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
If we are good then we know the Lord. If someone is evil they have not seen God. Only those who have seen and know God can be good. I thank God for Him making Himself know to me and helping me to have faith in Him. Without Him I am nothing.
We need not to put ourselves first because we do not deserve it. We should always put God than others before each other.
3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth.
This verse sort of encapsulates our latest series on street cred. I know that I want my Christian walk to get a positive rep. like this one. I pray that I might live a life pleasing to God so that when people speak of me they can say that I am someone who walks in the truth. I’m also grateful for Christ dying on the cross so that I even have the opportunity to have a relationship with God and use my life to worship and glorify Him. John makes it clear in this book how we can get such street cred. By imitating good, not evil. And of course our model is Christ Himself. He walked in truth and lived a perfect life for us. The very least I could do is to strive to live a holy life in thankfulness to Him; and even doing that will not come close to bringing God the honor He merits. That’s why I’m praying that God will use me more to help bring people to Christ so that the chorus of praise will be as loud and beautiful as God deserves.
3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth.
In this verse, Paul is basically congraulating the brothers that they have earned street cred. In fact, they have so much that Paul had heard about it. I mean word did not spread very fast in those times. These guys were in a word, LEGIT. that’s an example of how we should be. People should know that we are Christians because of our actions and our words. So let’s go out and get some persecution!!! :)
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
if we are christians, we should be doing good things not bad things
c u all later
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.
I am going to try out what Christa taught us today at Girl’s Workshop :D
Then: The author is telling the people to not do evil because those who do evil are not from God but on Satan’s team. He uses an example from the church, Demetrius, who has street cred. Encourages people to be like him and strive to be like God, welcoming them in the church, and showing brotherly love.
Always: Never do what is evil, but since you are saved refrain from sin and pursue what is good, righteous, and holy. In all ways worshiping and obeying God.
Now: I will rely on God and have HIM help me in all that I do, including turning away form sin which i cannot do on my own. I will praise Him and reflect His love to those around me be they brothers, sisters, or strangers to me.
Praise the Lord who left His eternal word for me and you!!
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth.
I may have come across with a different insite than others could have perceived from this verse, but ill share it anyways. What i find to be so cool in this verse is how John is happy for ‘right’ things. He gets excited when he hears about how others are doing the will of God. It makes me think about what i get excited about. I want to be sure that i am rejoicing for what is good and what is right. I want to be sure i am getting excited for pure things and things that glorify God. I want to surround myself with Christians who get stoked when they hear that someone was saved or that someone turned from a temptation. Its always encouraging to me when i hear how people do good for God and get saved, etc.
Maranatha!
6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.
This stood out to me because I haven’t thought about doing something in a manner “worthy of God” for a long time. It sort of started to seem to me like I had been doing okay, and I had been going to Church, reading the bible, praying, and doing the practical things that Christians should do, but that verse caught my eye, because I realized that I wasn’t worthy of God on my own.
I want to be the one who says to myself, am I doing this for myself, or am I doing this for Jesus? That should be the question, but in our human hearts, the question is a lot of times, How much glory will this bring to myself?
I pray that I and every other one of my Christian brothers and sisters will think about bringing glory to you, God, and not to ourselves. Forgive us for walking in our own ways, and bring us back to you.
That’s a good passage =)
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
It is so cool that this book is actually a personal letter John wrote to Gaius and in this verse he is so thankful for him and his walk in the Lord. Like Bobby and Beth both commented, John is referring to his spiritual children–people he had led to the Lord and/or trained spiritually. I know that as I spend everyday training Tyler and Emma it would be really discouraging to hear of them being out of control acting the exact opposite from what I had taught them. Thinking about that in light of this verse made me realize that I need to always be running with what my “spiritual parents” are passing on to me. On the other side, seeing “spiritual kids” of mine who treat what I’m trying to pass on to them as suggestion, optional can be discouraging. I try to expend myself in encouraging and sharpening the girls of True North so that they will grow and be walking in the truth, my prayer tonight is that they will really do that, especially all the girls who were at Girl’s Workshop today! Let’s be sure we make time to take God’s Word personally!
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God
What a helpful verse!!! Before I am about to sin I should think about what this verse is saying!!! You are evil if you do evil!!!!
Maranatha
5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.
This verse convicts me to love my fellow Christians more and really look after their needs. Its so easy to get caught up in my own life, and its really sad when my fellow Christian is struggling and I am too busy to even think about them. LORD, please grow my love for my fellow Christian brothers and sisters; please help me to have godly conversations with them and ask them for things to pray for them about. Please help me to always be looking out for their needs and not be so selfish. Please help me love them in such a way as this verse says, in a way that is worthy of you.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
In this life we tend to imitate others. Most people imitate the world…what they see from their friends, movies, tv, etc. I want to be a person who imitates Jesus…and other heroes of the faith from the Bible. I want my life to be a reflection of the good found in God’s word. To imitate good I need to know what IS good. I need to be reading His word every day and applying it to my life.
9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.
This is a great reminder that personal ambition has no place in church service. If I am supposed to be serving others than i should not be trying to grab more honor and power for myself, but instead focusing that ambition on glorifying God and submitting to the authorities he has put over me. He gives me the ability to do anything good so he deserves all the credit for every good thing I do!
3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
What a great verse! Let us encourage our brothers and sisters to lead their lives in truth, so we may all rejoice!!
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
THis is a great verse and it reminds me of Romans 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” We cant imitate others of this world and fall into the same kinds of sin and temptation. We must be different and imitate the example of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was perfect and never sinned, so this is the example of good we must imitate! If we do good, we are from God (:
I love verse 14! I cant wait to see Jesus face to face and talk with those who served God here on earth!
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
God makes it so clear in this verse how to decern Christians from nonChristians. If were doing good, we are from God. Then again I know I can look at differant people and think ‘they are really a nice person!’ but that doesnt mean that they are Christians. How would I know the differance? Well one, they would be evangelizing and talking about God and two, they wouldnt be being nice for Gods glory not their own. I know I can find myself being nice because I want people to think well of me. I should be nice to people to show them the love of God, and if they ask why I personally care about them, I can tell them about God. Doing good is so important to help other Christians see the love of God. No one wants to beceom a Christian if they are lead in by a mean girl or boy. I need to be showing Gods love to everyone around me, and by that pray that they would ask me why so I can share the true love of God.
In the first four verses it talks about truth four times. This emphasis on truth stood out to me and shows how much John is concerned with the truth and ultimately how much God cares about the truth. The whole series of Don’t Stop Standing has been focusing on the truth and standing firm in it. So often people talk about love or words that can have ambiguous definitions. While we do desperately need love which 1 John showed us, we desperately need love rooted in the truth. For love without having a foundation of truth in Christ is nothing. May our lives be rooted and grounded in the truth. Jesus says in John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” Praise God that He has given us His Word! Let us be people who walk in the truth!
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God
I like how it says “imitate.” We should make an effort to copy our spiritual leaders who are already living by God’s Word. The opposite of having spiritual role models is having a group of non-Christian friends, who instead we strive to be like. We should be a lot more similar to our Pastors and small group leaders than to a non-Christian “best friend”.
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
This verse stuck out to me because he is taking joy in the fact that our friends are christians. we need to rejoice and be thankful to God for the fact that most of us have a great christian friend base and that He has provded that for us.
Crazy day… I don’t really have time to comment very much, but I did like v. 4.
It’s true. Seeing my brothers and sisters in Christ live godly lives and grow spiritually is such a great thing to witness, and truly is encouraging.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
The truth of this verse is found all over the Bible: Christians should be obeying God’s Word! According to this verse, whoever does good is from God, while whoever does evil is not from God. I need to make sure that I am surrounding myself with these godly, obedient people and imitate their behavior! I should be seeking to surround myself with awesome examples who model godliness in their own lives.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
I want to be an imitater of good and not evil. There are so many different types of evil in the world that wants to pull us to their side and put us against God. I need to be on the lookout all the time for more and more christains friends that are going to imitate good so that I can look at their lives and follow their good examples
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
Very very simple ( like it when the Bible is like this). If we have been made new again in Christ, our Joy and His love should be actively show in our daily lives. This becomes valuable in our lives at school too. Let’s say someone’s walking down the hall, an they see you for just a split-second. They’re going to base their entire view of you (if they care that much) after what they just saw. Now if you were doing a good deed, they may lable you as a “good kid” which is much more to your advantage that being a “bad kid”, and later asking them to come to campus lunch.
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
This is a powerful verse. John is overjoyed when he hears that people are leading Christian lives….he even goes so far as to say that he has no greater joy! Can I honestly say that seeing other people get saved and walk in the truth is the *most* happy thing I could hear about? This verse is very convicting to me because although I’m very happy when I see other Christians, there are probably other things in my life that I get more excited about….and that’s not the way it’s supposed to be.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good.
In a world that is SO focused on the self, it’s easy to get caught up in all the wrong things, taking your focus off God. This verse here says that the things we imitate need to be good, not evil. The world is full of evil and if we are constantly surrounding ourselves with non believers, watching secular TV shows, and not in the word and prayer, it’s easy to see how easily we can start imitating evil and take our focus off of truth. I want to make sure I look to Christ and find my identity in him alone every single day, reading through scripture to help me pursue holiness, and living a life set apart from evil.
have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
As a father and a true north leader I would love to see all of my children walking in the truth. In fact I pray for it pretty much everyday. So if you are in the SC small group and would like to see a joyful John Karlsson, then follow God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength!! Things like evangelizing with Spencer Camp at the spectrum bring joy to my heart and better yet bring Glory to God!
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
I guess it isn’t too hard to see who is working for God and who is working for the devil. good works will come with salvation, and we must watch out for those who claim to be christians but continuously live their lives in sin.
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Although this is talking about John’s spiritual children, or people he’s been in a sense a Pastor to, I think this can also just be related to my friends and people around me. I want all of the people I know to be on fire living for Christ. Sadly, this is not the case. Even some the people I know who claim to be Christians likely aren’t. I need to first, be evangelizing to the people I know who are rejecting the truth, sharing the gospel with them. Secondly, I need to be encouraging my friends that are Christians, so that they might not stumble and live for God in everything they do!
“Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
Truth is of central importance to the Christian. Without it, we have no solid foundation on which to stand and call for repentance, and without truth we cannot confidently offer God’s forgiveness of sin to those who believe in Jesus. Here John is talking about specific truth: Biblical truth and even more specifically Biblical lifestyle (“walking”) as a natural outflow of knowing and believing that truth. It makes me wonder a few things: is my walk one that causes people to experience their greatest joy? Are there any parts of “the truth” that I am failing to believe and therefore failing to apply? I’m not going to be satisfied with just knowing the right answer, but will pursue God’s truth until I believe it with such deep conviction that I cannot help but act on it!
3 John 1
2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
I love how John places a higher priority on spiritual health over physical health. Today there was a sign that was found from the Benny Hinn ministries which was advertising a healing service. This sign is contrary to what John is stating here as of importance. So many people in this world are looking for a physical healing from God and are less concerned about the spiritual healing that produces salvation. Christ did not come to this world to heal people from their physical afflictions. Christ came to heal people from their impending spiritual death. I am deeply troubled when I see the Gospel distorted by so called Christian ministries that prey upon the spiritually weak. What good is physical health if you are spiritually dead?
2 Timothy 4:3-4 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
I would rather imitate good above evil any day. Sometimes it is hard but I want to keep the faith and keep on doing good and following God’s call. Faith is dead unless you do good as well.
ELLO… I read
I like verse 11,”Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.”
I like this verse because it is so straight to the point. it simply says those who do good are from GOD and those who do evil are from the devil. I need to make sure that I do good so that I show others that I am not from the devil. If I do evil and claim to be from GOD then I am a hypocrite. I need to make sure that I live for GOD.
CYA
2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Support and Opposition
5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
=)
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
AHH! I love this verse. God has NO greater joy than to hear that we are walking in His truth. :D After reading this verse, it causes me to want to walk even more strong in His truth so that I may please Him. A few months ago Pastor Bobby was talking about laziness in our lives and sin, and how when we are preparing to sin, we should follow the three steps..Pray..Read His word…ask someone to help pull you out. This is one of the verses I pull out immediately when I am feeling lazy in my walk with God, because it reminds me that if I do what He wants, he will be so truly happy. :) It gives Him joy…I want to be able to give God joy!!