In the Gospel of John, the author refers to himself as "the disciple Jesus loved", that is, his favourite! He is so certain of this, and thrilled by it, that he doesn't hesitate to write it up for all eternity! Of course Jesus loved them all, but it seems John was his closest friend. It appears all the others were happy for him. There is a lesson for us in that. It encourages a generous spirit whenever another is blessed, no matter what might be happening to us.

John had a clear purpose in putting pen to paper, and a clear plan as to what he felt compelled to emphasise. "Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:30-31). These verses provide us with the lens through which we should view the whole Gospel.

When writing his First Letter on the other hand, his purpose was to provide the grounds for the believer's assurance of salvation. He achieved this by coming up with three clear and objective tests which do not rely on feelings. They are meant to convince us that our faith is genuine; to set our minds at rest and to remove our doubts and fears. John Stott refers to them as the moral test (that we can no longer live in habitual sin), the theological test (that we truly believe Jesus to be who he claims to be) and the social test (that we have genuine love for all fellow-believers).

The wording he uses is: "we know that we have come to know him … are in him … are children of God …" if we pass these tests. We have to be able to put our hands on our hearts knowing we are speaking the truth to ourselves. For example: I know that I cannot allow obvious sin to be a constant in my life because the Holy Spirit's conviction is too strong. I know I am totally convinced that Jesus is the Son of God and the Saviour of the world and the only way to God. And I know I have genuine love for the people of God and love to spend time with them socially and to pray and worship with them corporately.

As I read through this letter over the last two mornings the words that stood out to me were "I am writing this to you so that …" They occur 5 times in the NLT.

SO THAT YOU WILL HAVE FELLOWSHIP with one another and with the Father

SO THAT YOU WILL FULLY SHARE OUR JOY as those who actually lived alongside Jesus

SO THAT YOU WILL NOT SIN but live holy lives that honour God

SO THAT YOU WILL KNOW YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE and look forward to it with joy and peace

SO THAT TOGETHER WE CAN PERSONALLY KNOW THE TRUE GOD and share true intimacy with Him

Dr Henry Cloud writes in 'Changes that Heal' "The body of Christ (our local church) is the only place in which we change and grow". I agree with him, but only if we, individually, make sure it is functioning as it should be (as a living body and a close-knit family) and that we are functioning as we should be (committed, involved, using our gifts, etc., etc.)! That is, by doing all the 50 odd "one-anotherings" so as to build each other up in love.