If you profess to love God and hate someone, you are a liar. Please don’t be mad at me for telling you this. I am simply telling you the truth. It’s a hard truth, isn’t it? It is for me anyway. How do I know it’s true? Read what God says in His Word:
“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.” 1 John 4:20-21 KJV
We can run from the truth, or we can face the truth and repent if we need to and be changed by God when facing the truth so we live by it in obedience to God! I want to be changed by God! Do you?
If we truly love God, we need to love others also. Not hate them. Not even dislike them. Not merely tolerate them. Not disregard them. Not pretend they don’t exist. Not resent them. Not refuse to forgive them. We are to love them. We are to love God. We are to love others. And through God, who is love, who enables us to love, we can love.
I have some growing to do when it comes to love. Do you? I purpose it in my heart even as I write this to keep on growing by the grace of God. Will you?
Please God, grow us in your ways. Grow us in your love. Help us love you, oh Lord, just as you desire. And help us to love others, just as you desire. These are your commands. Help us obey them. To you be all the glory, AMEN!
p.s. Just days after writing this, as I prepared it for publication, the Holy Spirit brought to my attention yet again how vigilant I need to be in choosing to love – and how far short I still fall and how I can fail to see it when I am interacting with people. I needed to repent – yet again. Trusting the Lord will continue to grow me as I go forth. May He do the same with us all – transforming us into the men and women of God He created us to be as we learn to love, love, love with His love, hallelujah, AMEN!
“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16 KJV