God first loved us
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister. 1 John 4:19-21 CSB
Wrapping up the chapter, John states a very powerful statement, “We love because He first loved us.” God initiated the relationship with humanity first, loving us sinners, making a way for reconciliation possible. In turn, believers respond to this love by loving Him. Continuing on, John then refutes the false teachers and antichrists who claimed to love God, yet their actions did not reflect such a relationship with the Lord: “‘If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar.’” We cannot see the human heart and can tell who is a believer and who is not. It is only by actions can we try to discern who is who. “For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” If we truly claim to love God, we reflect that love for Him by loving others, being faithful to His commands in His Word. John repeats the commands of Jesus in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Therefore, if one claims to be a believer of God and loves God, must also love his brother and his sister (verse 21). Proof of our love to God is shown through our love for those that He loves. Jesus stated this similarly in Matthew 25:40 and 45, “‘And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me…’ ‘Then he will answer them,’ ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
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