1 John 3:18 My children, our love should not be only words and talk. No, our love must be real. We must show our love by the things we do.

Listen: When Love Prevails


As movie themes go, love stories would have to be amongst the most popular of all genres. Sure there are action movies, dramas, even horror films (not my thing!). But love stories, I think, top them all. Why is that?

Well, have you ever analysed one of those love story movies; looked at the plot and the characters to see why we warm to them so readily? The thing that makes them work is when love triumphs over the odds; when love prevails through exceptional challenges and trials.

Let’s face it, if the movie simply consisted of two people, telling one another other, “I love you,” even if they found creative ways of doing that, it’d be pretty boring, right?! Or if they were happily married, living in a nice little house, with two well-adjusted children, happy as Larry, day after day, would anyone watch that movie for ninety minutes? Not likely.

No, we yearn to see love triumph over the most challenging of circumstance. We long to see love persevere and prevail through the most torrid of trials. That’s what makes a love story tick. That’s why we watch it. Which kind of sheds a light on this particular passage:

1 John 3:18 My children, our love should not be only words and talk. No, our love must be real. We must show our love by the things we do.

Where the rubber hits the road, where love all of a sudden gets real, is when the things we do overcome challenging circumstances, prevail through torrid trials … in the name of love.

It’s one thing to say that we love someone. It’s another thing entirely to demonstrate that love through the sacrifices we make for them. Let your love be real!

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.