3 John 1 : 6, 7 Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: Because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.
The epistles of John are believed by many to be works of John the Apostle, but that is not so. These letters are the last letters/books of the NT and dated between 90AD -110AD, about 20 years after Revelation (which also is not written by John the Apostle).
John, the author of these epistles, is referred to as John the Evangelist. We can see the signature of his Calling in the letters. His third epistle is written to a person named Gaius. This Gaius, a Latin name, is not to be confused with Gaius of Derbe or the Gaius who was one of a few whom Paul himself baptised, a Macedonian dwelling in Corinth.
John (the Evangelist) is seen in this letter praising Gaius and his congregation for their charity. They did not take from the Gentiles but gave unto them.
There is a saying, ‘love till it hurts’, which was famously associated with Mother Teresa, who once said “I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love”. Similar to that is the saying ‘exercise till it pains – for without pain there is no gain’. In today’s scripture, we see charity is put into that saying, ‘give till it hurts’. Like exercise, this pain also ends with reaping great benefits. One of the benefits is that our own cups will never cease to be full. It is only when we allow our cups to overflow that the Lord ensures they remain more than full.
[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You are Almighty God. You are Father for You alone are our Creator, Protector and Provider. Even though we work, it is You who provides. Lord, we pray we understand that when we are in You, it is You who makes sure our little efforts reap great harvest. Lord, we pray we learn to give to the right purpose and people so that we reap a great harvest…
This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
[Reference Scriptures]
3 John 1:1 The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
Acts 20:4 And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
Acts 19:29 And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.
1 Corinthians 1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
Dated 29 April 2026
Bro Rollwyn