Watch out for loving yourself more than Jesus

3 John 9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. We don’t know what happened to the letter John wrote to the church. It is surmised that Diotrephes was an elder in the church, probably a sister church in the same community as Gaius. So it is possible that Diotrephes destroyed it because he didn’t like it and rejected John’s authority as an apostle. Whatever the case, there is quite a contrast between Gaius and Diotrephes. Gaius, out of the love of God and love for the truth, received and supported the traveling ministers, and Diotrephes did not. Actually Diotrephes not only refused to receive the brothers, but as we’ll see in the next verse, he forbid anyone in his church to do so at the risk of being excommunicated from the church. He refused to accept John’s encouragement to receive and support these brethren in their mission for the advancement of the gospel. The encouragement to live to love with Jesus in this verse comes from the proud attitude John noticed in Diotrephes. He said, he loved to be first among them. That is he loved significance. He was jealous of these traveling missionaries because they were worthy of honor and support, and he wanted it for himself from the church. It’s impossible to live to love with Jesus when we want to be important or significant more than others. In this case, Diotrephes was in the ministry for the sake of his own name, not the sake of Jesus’ name. We are encouraged today to be on the alert for any form of self aggrandizement or self-significance as we walk with Jesus. Let’s not think this sin cannot rise up in even the most mature. Remember how the disciples argued about who was to be first or greatest among themselves? Jesus told them the first shall be last and the last shall be first. We are reminded again that we live to love for Jesus’ sake, for His glory, not for our own glory. We’re not seeking a good reputation as we generously love and give. We must examine ourselves to make sure we don’t love ourselves more than we love Jesus. We live to love with Jesus for the sake of the truth and the glory of God.