They Just Go Together (Frday Devotional)

“We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death.”

- 1 John 3:14

A few years ago, Lindsey and I made a pact with one another. We had spent the better part of the morning driving to Arkansas for a family reunion and, having spent the better part of the afternoon there, we were now making the long trek back to Waco. Needless to say, we were tired, hungry, and ready to be home. So when we saw the “Welcome to Texas” sign, it felt like cause for a celebration—we were almost there, already back in familiar territory.

Basking in that minor victory, we wanted to do some uniquely Texan, and another sign in the distance served as a beacon for what that uniquely Texan thing should be—we pulled over and had dinner at Whataburger. And it was there, over patty melts and fries, that we made our pact: any time we crossed state lines, we would celebrate our return back to Texas with a meal at Whataburger. What could be more Texan?

In the days since, those post-road trip dinners have become less a treat than a natural consequence, as much a part of the return home as seeing that “Welcome to Texas” sign. We barely have to think about it anymore—coming back to our home state and stopping for dinner at Whataburger just go together.

That is exactly the kind of unity that faith in Christ and love for one another are supposed to share—they’re meant to “just go together,” love a natural consequence of faith. John 3:14 says that the way you know you have passed from death to life, from faith in the world to faith in Christ, is by the love you have for others. Love is not so much an active choice, something you can embrace or abandon at your convenience, as it is the natural consequence of placing Jesus at the center of your life.

We are prone to separating love of God and love of others, compartmentalizing in such a way that we glorify the perfect and almighty God while disparaging fallible, fallen human beings. God is easy to love, but loving people can sometimes be more challenging, so we pretend that we can love one and not the other.

But Jesus made it clear that there can be no separation between the two when he told us what the greatest commandment is: “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). To love God is to also love the creations who bear His image, even when they seem unlovable. So as you seek to live faithfully, having passed from death into life, may you mark your passage into a life of faith and hope with love—they just go together.