"If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this command we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."
You simply cannot hate your brother and be a true Christian.
Many professing Christians say they love God, but they don't love one another. And they're living a lie.
You can talk about knowing God, you can talk about being in the light, you can
say you have fellowship with Him...but the proof is not in your words; it’s in
your actions. Specifically, it's in your obedience to the Lord's command to love one another.
You may do a lot of other things in the church, serving in various ways,
putting money in the offering plate, singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School, and a host of others, but if you’re not loving one another
you’re living in disobedience to Christ's command, and you really don’t know
Him at all. You’re not walking in the light. You’re not in fellowship with Him.
You don’t have eternal life.
So examine your life. Take a good, long, hard look at your
heart.
If this word hurts, then good. Better for it to hurt now
while you can still do something about it, than for it to hurt later when it's too late. Listen,
you don’t want to be deceived this whole time thinking you’re good, that you’re
in...and then stand before the Lord Almighty on that day of judgment and hear Him
say, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil
and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you
gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you
did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” And you will
say, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or
sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?” And he will answer, “Truly, I
say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it
to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into
eternal life. – Matthew 25:41-46
O God, teach us to love. Forgive us for when we've failed to keep this simple, yet essential command. Help us to love one another. We can't do it on our own. We need your help. We need your love to flow through us if we're going to do this love thing well at all. Give us a heart of compassion, of mercy, of grace. Open our eyes to see the needs of people all around us who are hurting and broken and in need of your love. Give us courage and faith to step out and meet those needs. Let us do it in your name, and in the power of your Spirit within us. Amen.
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