English Standard Version
Have you ever attended a musical event or play where everyone gave a standing ovation at the end, and you stood up and clapped even though you didn't think it was worthy of a standing ovation? Peer pressure is an amazing thing -- when it feels like everyone else is standing up and going one way, it's far easier to stand and do the same.
We experience that peer pressure in countless ways, every day. Advertisers prey upon it, trying to influence you to act a certain way. And if we're not careful, if we're not well anchored, we drift one way or another, acting like the world. We get drawn in by the desire to fit in with the crowd, to do what the world is doing.
In this letter, John is trying to anchor us in love. We should love one another, John says, always holding up the example of Christ's love for us. We have been fiercely loved, and we should therefore go into the world and love one another, even if the world is filled with violence and hatred. When the world tries to tell you that violence and hatred are acceptable, we resist, because we're anchored in love. John tells us that one way we demonstrate our faith is to love, even when it's hard. It's easier to hate, especially when there is so much hate in the world. To love in the face of this is difficult, but that's how we are called to be, even when we're confronting someone, even when we're speaking difficult words and standing in opposition to actions or words of those who oppose us. We don't have to shrink back, don't have to be shrinking violets, but we always act out of genuine love, for we have been loved, even when we were enemies of God.
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