<p>3:16 <em>Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers</em>- The message from the beginning of the Lord's ministry was of love, in that the light of His person was an imperative to love unto death. But the supreme definition of love was given in His life; that enables the new commandment to be real, to love as He loved us, unto death.</p><p>The same <em>must</em> which led Him to His passion (see on Mk. 14:49; Lk. 2:49) is the very same compulsion which &ldquo;behoves&quot; us to preach that passion which we have witnessed and benefited from. In His ministry, He had taught that we <em>must</em> be born again, and in the same discourse spoke of how He <em>must</em> be lifted up in crucifixion (Jn. 3:7,14). His cross, His will to die in the way He did, must be our inspiration. &ldquo;Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and <em>we ought</em> to lay down our lives for the brethren&quot; (I Jn. 3:16). We must carry the cross if we are to know His salvation. Yet we can be caught up in the spirit of a world which seeks obsessively to save its life rather than give up life. Through popping pills, exercise, healthy living... we can seek to extend our days. We use insurance to seek to cushion us against the harder knocks of life. We seek our lives to be as free as possible from hard work. And none of these things is wrong in themselves. It is quite right that we should make use of these things in the Lord&rsquo;s service. But we can be caught up in the spirit of life and thinking of which they are part, and <em>this</em> is the danger. For the spirit and desire that gave rise to them is that which is exactly the opposite of the sense of <em>must</em> which the Lord possessed. He knew that He <em>must</em> suffer, He <em>must</em> crucify His flesh. And so <em>must</em> we. This is a solemn and eternal compulsion. Yet we live in a world which believes that we <em>must not </em>suffer anything negative, and we <em>must</em> seek to save our lives rather than give them out for others.<br />If we are to show the love of God to the world, this will primarily (but not exclusively) be in terms of our spiritual help towards them, rather than a social gospel. Our response to God's love in Christ will also be expressed by laying down our lives &quot;for the <em>brethren</em>&quot;. The next verse helps define this as material, practical help (1 Jn. 3:16,17).</p>