1 John 3:13-17
So don’t be surprised, friends,
when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.
The way we know we’ve been
transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone
who doesn’t love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a
murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don’t go
together.
This is how we’ve come to
understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why
we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out
for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to
do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to
God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. The Message
Christ has no body now on earth but
yours,
no hands but yours, no feet but
yours,
Yours are the eyes through which is
to look out
Christ’s compassion to the world;
Yours are the feet with which he is
to go about doing good;
Yours are the hands with which he
is to bless men now. —Teresa of Avila, 1515-1582
Galatians 6:9-10
Let us not become weary in doing
good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to
those who belong to the family of believers.