Reflections with Andy - 1 John 3:11-24 – Our Hearts

Some of my favorite verses today - when our hearts condemn us, God is greater than even that!

In this Tuesday reflection on 1 John 3:11–24, the passage’s command to love one another is grounded in the defining act of love itself — Christ laying down his life — and extended outward: love not just in word, but in truth and action, and not just toward fellow believers, but toward neighbors and enemies too, because the whole of Scripture leaves no room for a narrow definition of who deserves our love. The commandment John lands on is beautifully simple: believe in Jesus and love one another. We make faith far more complicated than it needs to be. But the heart of the reflection is verses 19 and 20 — a passage the preacher has carried since early faith: whenever our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. So many of us are weighed down by guilt, regret, and internal condemnation that quietly becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. John’s answer isn’t to minimize the weight of that — it’s to say that God, who knows every single thing about us, loves us still. You don’t have to keep carrying it. You are loved more than you can imagine.

Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he’ll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God’s Word.

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Good morning! Great to be with you on this beautiful Tuesday. Hope your day is off to a good start — coffee in hand, ready to spend some time in God’s word. I’m excited to be with you today because this section of First John has some of my absolute favorite verses in all of Scripture. Let’s read it together — First John chapter 3, verses 11 through 24:

“For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this: that he laid down his life for us — and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.”

Before we dive in, I want to flag something. When John says to love one another here, he’s specifically talking about love within the community of believers. And I want to be clear — that’s not a permission slip to stop there. There are layers and layers of other Scripture that call us to love our neighbors, love our enemies, love the world as God loves the world. Someone once pointed out that Jesus divides the world into two groups — friends and enemies — and we’re to love both. So yes, this passage is about the love Christians have for each other. But there’s no “out” on loving people who don’t share our faith. Cain didn’t love, and whoever does not love abides in death. That’s not a narrow category.

Now — to the part of this passage I really want to sit with.

Verse 18 is where John lands the commandment: believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another. That’s it. We make faith so complicated sometimes, don’t we? We really do. And John just cuts right through all of it. Believe in Jesus. Love each other. If we genuinely focus on those two things, they will consume the vast majority of our time and energy and orient everything else about how we live.

But the verses I love most — the ones I’ve carried with me for decades — are verses 19 through 20: “By this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”

I don’t know if you’re like me, but when I first became a Christian, I fell completely in love with Scripture. Some of you may remember the old ‘90s NIV Student Bible — I think mine was entirely yellow from highlighting. And this verse is one I’ve meditated on ever since.

Because here’s the thing: our hearts condemn us. A lot. We carry around regret from past sins, guilt over things we’ve struggled with for years, grief over mistakes we made in relationships — with our spouse, our children, our parents. So many of us drag around a weight of internal condemnation. And if we’re not careful, that condemnation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. We feel unloved and unlovable, so we push people away, and we end up alone — when none of that had to be the case.

But John says: God is greater than our hearts. He knows everything.

God knows everything about you, friends. Your thoughts. Your actions. What you’ve done and what you haven’t done. There is not a single part of your life hidden from him. The Psalmist knew it — where can I flee from your presence? If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, you are there. Even the darkness is not dark to you. Nowhere. We can’t flee from his presence.

And here’s what that means: God knows everything about you, and he still loves you. He is not out to get you. He is not angry with you. He is not against you. He is for you. And if God is for us, who can be against us? We confess our sins, and he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You don’t have to keep holding on to the mistakes of the past.

Now — I’m not saying you can snap your fingers and make the pain disappear. I’m not saying the struggles just vanish. I know it’s not that simple, and I’m not going to pretend it is. But I am saying this: you are loved. You are loved more than you can possibly imagine. Imprint that on your soul. And when your heart condemns you — when you feel like you’ve gone too far or done too much — remember: God is greater than your heart. He knows everything. And he loves you still.

I hope that verse is as much of a blessing to you as it has been to me all these years. Tomorrow we move into chapter 4. Have a great day — see you then!