¹⁸ Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. ¹⁹ We love each other because he loved us first.

²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? ²¹ And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.

Don’t Lie

Okay, okay, we get it, John. Love God, love others. Time to move on, buddy.

And yet, John seems to save his biggest statement to the end. After spending more than a chapter of his letter challenging his readers to love God and love others, he throws out a very radical statement: If you claim to love God but don’t love others, you’re a liar. Wow. Don’t hold back, Johnny.

Of course, he’s right. You can’t do one without the other. To truly love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, you have to love the things that God loves. And God loves people. So, if you don’t love others, you are not grasping the heart of God. You are missing the point, and you are not loving God fully.

The more we love God, the more our hearts will be drawn to loving others. It’s just that simple.

In fact, if you want a measuring stick to determine how you are doing in your relationship with God, just look at how you treat others. If you are someone who attacks, criticizes, gossips, and tears down other people, then you are not someone who loves God. Sorry, you’re not. You may be someone who loves religion or loves the “idea” of God, but you’re not loving God.

So, love others. In doing so, you’ll discover you love God more and more. And, vice versa, love God and you’ll quickly fall in love with people.

My prayer: Lord, this is always a challenge. To love you more will mean loving others more. To love others more, will take loving you more. It’s an amazing journey we are on. Today, I choose to love. Amen.

Until tomorrow.