It’s easy to talk about love; we use the word all the time. We love pizza, we love a crisp autumn morning, we love baseball, and we love lazy summer afternoons. We print slogans on bumper stickers and sing catchy choruses about love.

Talking about love is easy and makes everyone feel good. But talk can be cheap. When the Apostle John addressed the family of believers, he reminded them that God’s love is not an abstract slogan; it is an action:

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

1 John 3:18

How do we know what real love looks like? John tells us in the very verses leading up to this: Jesus laid down His life for us. He didn’t just give a speech about compassion from heaven; He got down into the dust of this earth, put our interests ahead of His own, and paid our debt on the cross.

Because we are in a relationship with a Savior who loved us like that, our relationship with the people around us ought to reflect it.

Real love shows up in the ordinary moments. It’s choosing not to hold a grudge when someone hurts your feelings. It’s lending a helping hand to a neighbor who is having a rough week. It’s listening patiently to someone when you’d rather do all the talking. It’s putting someone else’s needs ahead of your own convenience.

When we let Christ’s love flow out of us into our daily relationships, people don’t just hear about the Gospel—they see it in living color.

How can you put God’s love into practical action for someone in your family, workplace, or neighborhood today?