Love Is the Measure

A small study conducted by scientists at the University of California provided insight into how people reason when faced with difficult moral decisions. A group of volunteers were asked to watch videos of people experiencing pain. Some of the people cringed, but others did not. The individuals were then asked to make a difficult hypothetical decision concerning a scenario that could happen during a war. The decision had to do with harming one person in order to save a group of people.

Researchers found that those who cringed during the video were more likely to decide against harming anyone, even if the action would save a larger group. They concluded that when certain people are faced with difficult moral challenges, they are more concerned about the harm others may experience than their own survival.

The selfless reaction of sympathy was intended to be a moral compass for how we view God and make decisions about others. When the apostle John was writing to the churches, he knew that many people would deny that Jesus had actually appeared as a man. Satan would love for people to think that Jesus did not actually become a human because God is too distant and would never come to our dark planet.

But John knew that if he could warn believers about this ploy, they would not miss the main point of the incarnation: that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Jesus’ human nature was the evidence: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world” (1 John 4:9).

Armed with this truth, believers could know that those who deny this important fact should not be trusted (1 John 4:2). In this way the followers of Christ could navigate through the complicated sea of religious opinions.

Apply It:

Look around as you go through your day and offer to help someone who is hurting.

Dig Deeper:

2 John 1:7; 1 Peter 3:18; Colossians 1:21, 22

Key Bible Texts

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: (1 John 4:2 KJV)