Choosing to love people well shows the world what God is like.

确切地爱他人，反映了上帝的形象。

The darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. 1 John 2:8

黑暗渐渐过去，真光已经照耀。-约翰一书2章8节

It was a dark morning. Low, steel-colored clouds filled the sky, and the atmosphere was so dim that I needed to turn on the lights in order to read a book. I had just settled in when the room suddenly filled with light. I looked up and saw that the wind was pushing the clouds to the east, clearing the sky and revealing the sun.

在一个阴霾的早晨，大片铁灰色的云层布满天际，将阳光完全遮蔽，天色极其昏暗，我必须开灯才能看书。正当我准备要开始阅读时，房间突然充满亮光。我抬起头，看见强风将厚重的乌云往东方吹散，天空晴朗了起来，阳光重新照耀大地。

As I went to the window to get a better look at the drama, a thought came to mind: “The darkness is passing and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8). The apostle John wrote these words to believers as a message of encouragement. He went on to say, “Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble” (v. 10). By contrast, he equated hating people with roaming around in darkness. Hatred is disorienting; it takes away our sense of moral direction.

我走向窗户，想仔细探究这戏剧性的变化，一节经文突然浮上心头：“黑暗渐渐过去，真光已经照耀”（约翰一书2章8节），这是使徒约翰为了鼓励信徒而写的，他又说道：“爱弟兄的，就是住在光明中，在他并没有绊跌的缘由”（10节）。相较之下，约翰表明心怀憎恨的人如同在黑暗中流荡摸索。因为憎恨使人迷失，使人失去道德良知。

Loving people is not always easy. Yet I was reminded as I looked out the window that frustration, forgiveness, and faithfulness are all part of maintaining a deep connection with the love and light of God. When we choose love instead of hate, we are showing our relationship with Him and reflecting His radiance to the world around us. “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

 爱人并不总是那么容易。然而，当我望向窗外时，也得着了提醒：我们若要活在上帝的光中，以祂的爱来爱人，我们会经历挫折，也要学习宽恕和忠诚。当我们选择爱而非恨，便是向世人展现我们与祂的关系，同时也反映出祂的荣光。因为“上帝就是光，在祂毫无黑暗”（约翰一书1章5节）。

Dear God, help me to experience 

Your love more fully so that I can 

share it with others.

 I want to live in the light of 

Your grace and mercy.

 亲爱的上帝，

求祢帮助我更深入体会祢的爱，

好叫我能将祢的爱与他人分享。

我愿活在祢恩典和怜悯的光中。

1 John 2:3-11New International Version (NIV)

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word,love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we knowwe are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

约翰一书 2:3-11Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified) (CUVMPS)

3 我们若遵守他的诫命，就晓得是认识他。 4 人若说“我认识他”，却不遵守他的诫命，便是说谎话的，真理也不在他心里了。 5 凡遵守主道的，爱神的心在他里面实在是完全的；从此，我们知道我们是在主里面。 6 人若说他住在主里面，就该自己照主所行的去行。

黑暗光明的反对

7 亲爱的弟兄啊，我写给你们的不是一条新命令，乃是你们从起初所受的旧命令，这旧命令就是你们所听见的道。 8 再者，我写给你们的是一条新命令，在主是真的，在你们也是真的，因为黑暗渐渐过去，真光已经照耀。 9 人若说自己在光明中，却恨他的弟兄，他到如今还是在黑暗里。 10 爱弟兄的，就是住在光明中，在他并没有绊跌的缘由； 11 唯独恨弟兄的，是在黑暗里，且在黑暗里行，也不知道往那里去，因为黑暗叫他眼睛瞎了。 

整理：于姊妹