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?  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.”  I John 4:20-21

How can one say that he loves God but hates his brother?  Men and women were created in the image of God.  It is true that many people, while created in God’s image, show no similarity or relationship to Him, but that is no reason to hate them.  Even though they don’t love God, He still loves them and desires for them to become members of His family.  God doesn’t hate people, but He hates the sins they commit for these sins separate them from Him.  He can’t accept any form of sin, but He made the way whereby sins could be forgiven, and the sinner cleansed, making him or her acceptable before Him.  If we say we love God, then that love should be strong enough and sufficient enough to cover every soul made by God.  He puts up with people in ways we have never experienced because of His great love for all people.

Just imagine, as much as humanly possible, how God must have felt when Jesus was hanging on the cross in excruciating pain, and the people were standing by, the very ones who numbered among all sinners for whom He was suffering, mocking and jeering God’s Son, and yet, He still loved them.  If God can do that, then surely we can love others since none of us has ever experienced that kind of emotional pain and heartache.  We have not physically seen God, yet we love Him, thus He has given us His creation, whom we can see, to love because He loves them.  We can’t love Him and hate those He has created for if we claim to have love for God and not for others, then we really don’t love God.  Our profession is a lie.

The principle is simple:  to love God is to love all those whom He loves.  We don’t love the sinful things they do.  God certainly doesn’t.  But we are to treat each person as a soul worth saving.  After all, God considered our souls worth saving.  God sent Jesus to die for the sins of the entire world, past, present, and future, thus He considers every soul worth saving.  It must break God’s heart that so many reject His Son, the only way of forgiveness and salvation.  Thank God for Jesus’ sacrifice, and thank God that the Holy Spirit knocked on our heart’s door, and we opened it and let Christ in.

While praying one morning before breakfast, the thought came to me, which I attribute to the Holy Spirit, that to love Christ is to desire to spend time with Him in prayer, Bible study, and keeping one’s mind focused on Him (Isaiah 26:3).  I think back to the bracelets that people wore over 20 years ago, the WWJD bracelets, which were a reminder to consider “What would Jesus do?” in any situation that arises that calls for a decision in word or deed.  The bracelets eventually disappeared like the commitment to Christ that some folks let fall by the wayside (Matthew 13:19).

On the other hand, if people say they love God, and they love Jesus, but choose to not attend worship services, never give of their income to the building up of Chris’s kingdom, seldom pray or read scripture, and never consider how Jesus would act in any given situation, then how can they otherwise display that love they claim to have?  These sacred acts are not to gain the love of Jesus or gain salvation, but they are because of His love to us and because of our gratitude for His great sacrifice He made for us on the cross.  To love Jesus is to put our faith in Him.  First faith, then works.  Faith without works is a non-existent faith (James 2:17).

Think about it this way.  If a husband said that he truly loved his wife, then he would do things to show his love.  First of all, he would see to her needs and pay attention to her even if her conversation was, at times, boring.  After all, his conversation can’t be witty and interesting all the time either.  Whatever she cares about, he cares about.  He would bring little special gifts home now and then, not necessarily expensive things, but things that he knows she would enjoy.  He would share in the household chores.  Nowadays, most husbands and wives work outside the home in order to survive financially.  The husband would be the spiritual leader in the home, a very important responsibility.  His wife must be able to depend on him to provide and protect her and the children.  Wives who say they love their husbands don’t put him down to their friends.  They support him and allow him to be the leader in the home.  The relationship between a husband and wife is a partnership with each one excelling in the role that God intended for them to carry out.  Just like husbands and wives show their love for one another in many ways, those of us who say we love the Lord also show Him that we love Him by our service and honor to Him, and how we treat others.