How can we love God?
“If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?”
1 John 4:20 NLT
The more I study God’s word, the more I realize how much of a sinner I have been and in how many ways I still am! Coming back to Christianity in 2007 after many years of disbelief, I found myself in a church that had some members who were hard to love. I remember one man in particular who volunteered for everything and seemed to be a model Christian.
One day I was surprised by a political statement he made and expressed my contrary opinion. The look of absolute hatred and disgust I received from him from that point on really shocked me, as I am one of those people who would rather avoid conflict and “agree to disagree”.
John’s point in this verse is quite scathing, and the minute I read the verse I thought of my fellow churchgoer. All of the love that he appeared to be showing to God through his service was just a lie if a disagreement with another believer’s political stance turned on the “hate switch” in his soul.
We must be careful not to hate other believers regardless of their opinions or personalities, lest our professed love of God be proven to be a lie.