The word love is overused these days. In fact, it’s difficult to know what it truly means anymore. Today Chuck Swindoll looks to Scripture to set the bar on what true love looks like. John had seen true love on display for three years as he followed Jesus’s earthly ministry. He learned to see it as a revealing sign of someone who “abides in the Light.”

Ever feel like you’re the only one at work or at school who wants to follow God? Chuck Swindoll continues his six guidelines for maintaining your spiritual convictions when you feel all alone. He draws from the wisdom in 1 John, where John passed along the same kind of sage advice one would hear when gathered at the knee of a family patriarch.

Few things are more difficult than maintaining our biblical convictions in a culture that’s hostile toward God. Today Chuck Swindoll offers six guidelines—practical tools—for living out our faith. And what better role model could we have than a man who lived almost a century and endured the brutal blows of persecution because of his devotion to our Lord.

We can talk all day long about our faith, but nothing speaks louder than our character. The apostle John had lived long enough to witness the fall of many who once walked closely with their Lord. He anguished over heresies that had sprung up in the lives of Christians he loved. We would be wise to heed his wisdom so we can avoid the same fate.

Nobody’s perfect. No matter how much time we spend at church or reaching out to those in need, our sinful nature never dies. Today Chuck Swindoll describes the devastating impact of sin . . . and the hope available in Jesus Christ. Even though God’s light clearly reveals our sin, His grace then wipes it away when we openly confess it to Him.

If you’re striving for perfection and trying to earn God’s favour by being good, you’ll soon discover that good is never good enough! Apart from grace, we fall woefully short of God’s standard. God’s light penetrates behind the words we say and reveals if, in fact, truth and purity are realities within us. His light also distinguishes genuine faith from counterfeit claims.

It’s difficult to have a deep relationship with someone we don’t know. So how can we expect to enjoy a satisfying relationship with God if we don’t know much about Him? John wrote, “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” Just what does that mean? Today Chuck Swindoll helps us understand an attribute of God that will deepen our respect for Him.

The book of 1 John doesn’t become more complicated as you read it—it’s complicated from the very beginning! John may have been a 90-year-old former fisherman, but he and the Holy Spirit wrote a profound, vitally important letter. Chuck Swindoll uses the context of these verses today to describe how you can deepen your relationship with God.

When you read the New Testament, it’s helpful to understand the cultural context in which the passage was written. Today Chuck Swindoll opens the pages of 1 John and gives a historical context for this powerful and passionate book. The first four verses, which serve as a preface to the letter, represent a grammatical knot. Let’s untie it together.