John 3:16 is perhaps the most well-known sentence in Scripture (“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”). In this digital age, John 3:16 is the most ‘Googled’ Bible verse. It gives a clear summary of the best news anyone could ever receive: the message of God’s loving gift of eternal salvation through faith in His Son. This is one of the key truths emphasised in the Gospel according to John.

But the first of his letters to the church also contains a chapter 3, verse 16 that is worth remembering. Interestingly enough, this one is also about God’s love. 1 John 3:16 reads, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

This verse points us to Christ’s willing sacrifice of Himself for the forgiveness of our sins – the ultimate demonstration of love. And it also moves us to the logical implication: if we believe in Christ and are saved by His loving sacrifice, we must follow His example. We must be willing to give of ourselves for the sake of others. So often, people define love in terms of their feelings for someone. It is easy to feel loving towards someone, and even to say “I love you”. But John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 both remind us that true love goes beyond feelings to action. God’s love is sacrificial, generous and completely motivated by the needs of others.

If you have accepted the message of the most famous verse in Scripture, that’s wonderful! You believe in the Son of God and are saved for eternity. And that being the case, may we also believe and live by John’s ‘other 3:16’, that Christ’s death for us would be our inspiration as we seek to obey His command to love one another.