Love is Christian, hate is not.

1 John 4:20-21
20Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, who may have not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

So, who is your brother? Who is your sister? Who are your brothers? Sisters? It’s the people you know and everyone else who’s here on earth that you don’t. It’s the awesome hosts at the Dr.’s House B&B in Markt Eimersheim, it’s the $#+& trucker riding your bumper, it’s the child not sponsored by World Vision who has to go to the dump for food, it’s those who have a different world view, it those locked up, it’s those who are the “mistakes”.

We’re called to live in love, not pious, sanctimonious, pompous, “I’m saved and you’re not nah-nah na nah-nah” self-righteous hate. If you can’t love those you do know, you can’t love God you don’t know.

That’s a double twist there – you can’t love God who you don’t know, but we do know Him through Christ. We are being told that if we aren’t living in the same love that Christ showed us, we don’t know God. If you’re like that, what’s being taught is that you’ll be one of those who is at the gate screaming “let me in!” to which Christ will answer “who are you? I don’t know you.”

I read anti-Christian stuff sometimes. It’s very sad to see the lies told by these folks, their lies and angry souls, and the easy pickings created by “Christians” who will be turned away at the gate. “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” Brennan Manning No, we’ll never be perfect here on this earth, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t use every ounce of energy we have to become more like Christ every minute of every day.

God is love, not hate.  Do you love like Christ loves us?  Do you have any hate in your heart?