1 John 4:20
1 John 4:20
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
What is it about being easier to do things when we don’t see them in front of us? It cuts across every field of life. For instance, it’s easier to say you’ll walk two kilometers every day until you get the chance to do it in reality, and you find you’re unable to do it. There’s something about having things right in front of us. Sometimes, it makes things harder to do. We often find it easier to “love” a God we haven’t seen but are handicapped to love those we see around us every day. It is easier to love a God that is imaginary to many than the physical people they can see and touch. However, believers are called to love just as God loves. To hate is not necessarily planning to kill your neighbor. It is simply a deviation from the true expression of love. With God, there is only love and hate. So, it’s either we’re loving our neighbors and doing all that 1 Corinthians 13 teaches to be its manifestation, or we are doing something less, which the Bible tags as hate. You cannot love God and hate your brother or sister. Loving God comes with loving other people. There are no gray areas. If we claim to love the invisible God, then we should be ready to love the visible brother and sister we interact with every day.
1 John 3:18
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:10
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Romans 12:10
Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;