1 John 3:11-18: Love in Deed and in Truth

One of the three tests of Christianity the apostle John repeatedly emphasizes in his first epistle is the "love" test: a true Christian loves the brothers and sisters. And much like a wife and husband are called to live and die for each other, respectively, in self-sacrificial ways, Christians are to do this for other Christians.

At the heart of this willingness to live self-sacrificially for the sake of the body of believers is a heart of contentment. This can be a special challenge for us in the west, where so many of us, even the poorest of us in our culture, have so much more than most of the rest of the world now and throughout history have ever had.