John, the elder wrote this letter to Gaius in truth. As we learned in 1 John, genuine love is based in God’s truth and John is primarily concerned that believers live in the full experience of truth and love. Just as in 2 John, John is filled with joy to learn through the testimony of others that his children in the faith are walking in the truth. Gaius has a testimony of walking in truth and John wishes him good physical health that would mirror his good spiritual health.

John commends Gaius for his faithfulness in providing hospitality to strangers, travelling preachers and teachers. In 2 John, John warned the church not to provide hospitality to travelling teachers who were not teaching sound doctrine. But for those who were teaching the truth, it was a good thing to support them in their ministry and provide them with hospitality as a very practical expression of Christian love.

While Gaius is doing well, John still encourages him with a reminder to continue to be generous. These travelling preachers were ministering for the sake of the name, for the sake of Jesus. They were sharing the gospel with the Gentiles (unbelievers) and would not accept support from those they were freely sharing the gospel with. It is a good thing when missionaries freely offer the gospel and rely on fellow believers for their support. The message can and does get confused when someone shares free salvation while at the same time asking for money. When we support missionaries, we become fellow workers for the truth.

Is your walk, your way of living, a testimony to the truth? We learned in 1 John that love is expressed in action (in deed and truth rather than in word or talk, 1 John 3:18). Hospitality is one way of showing Christian love but it is shown any time we meet the needs of others. In what way can you meet the needs of someone today?
Are you currently supporting those who are sharing the gospel as missionaries? You aren’t too young or too old. Your support can’t be too little or too much.