1 John 3:23-24 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

Reading this chapter it feels like John is veering toward legalism, but then he states here that the laws he’s talking about are to believe in Christ and love one another. You really have to work hard to make that legalistic! The devil does all he can to interfere with our relationship with God, and one of the things he does is to make it all seem very difficult. It’s true that sometimes it feels difficult to believe, to trust God fully, but faith itself is a gift, (Ephesians 2:8-9) and if we exercise however much we have received, we find it grows exponentially to meet whatever need we face. Likewise, some people aren’t very lovable, but the more we recognize and receive how much God loves us, in spite of all our personality issues and the like, the easier it is to let that love flow through us to others. And the icing on the cake is the Spirit, who is both the Agent and the proof of all that God does in and through us. When God started restoring spiritual gifts to the Body of Christ in 1900, people were naturally captivated by those gifts and started idolizing them, in a sense. Those gifts are indeed as valid and important today as they were in the 1^st Century, but John brings us back to the primary focus of faith and love. As Paul so famously pointed out in 1 Corinthians 13, without love, all the other stuff loses its meaning, not to mention effectiveness. If we really believe Christ and all that He says to us through His Word, then His gifts will operate through us as they are called for, as expressions of His love for every human being. That’s what it is to abide in Christ and be filled with His Spirit!

Whenever this subject comes up I remember Mrs. Okazaki. She was a widow by the time I got to know her, and she was as pure a channel of the love of God as I have ever met. Just being with her, you knew that God loved you! She never exercised any of the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 that I knew of, but she was magnificently filled with the Holy Spirit. I know that right now she is rejoicing before the Throne, along with my parents, whom she knew in this life as well. I am grateful for the spiritual gifts God has given me, but I know that God’s evaluation of me will not depend on what I have done, but on the faith and love that I have allowed to flow through me, for the blessing of those around me and for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for the example of people like Mrs. Okazaki who have illustrated Your truth to me. May I likewise be a demonstration of Your truth, Your grace and love, so that those who see me may know that You are real, and open their hearts to You for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!