A L M A C I A S

TRUE CHRISTIAN LOVE

It is not surprising that the apostle who was known as the "apostle of love" is the one who wrote so much concerning the love we should have one for another. In 1 John 4:19-21, we read, "We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth 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." It seems to me sometimes that the problem of Christian love is very misunderstood. There are many brethren who are actually not showing love for the brethren the way God has commanded us to do.

First, what did the apostle John want all of us to understand about Christian love? He wanted us to understand that to say and to do are two completely different things. John showed us in this passage of Scripture that it is possible to say that we have love for God, when we do not even have love for the brethren. But John lets us know that such is not possible. It is simply not possible for anyone to love God without loving the brethren. If anyone says that he or she loves God when that person actually does not even love the brethren, such a one is a liar. This is very important for all of us to understand, because whether or not we will enter heaven could depend on this. The Scriptures teach that no liars will enter heaven; and, therefore, if we are guilty of saying that we love God when we do not even love the brethren, we are considered by God as liars and therefore are not qualified to enter heaven. (Rev. 21:8) Also, the Lord Himself commanded all of us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

How do we sometimes show that we do not really love the brethren? It may be evidenced by the fact that we do not want to have anything to do with some of the brethren. There are times when it is wise to stay away from some people to avoid problems, but it seems that sometimes we shun others simply because we do not have love for them. Perhaps they have said something to us that we just did not care to hear, or perhaps they did something to us that we simply did not appreciate. Whatever may be the case, we all need to be very careful that we will not some day be told by the Lord that the reason we cannot enter heaven is because we did not take the time to love the brethren. Are we guilty of this? If we are, let us correct it before it is too late.