Love. That word carries so many meanings. We might say we love pizza or coffee or chocolate and in the same breath say we love our mate or son or daughter. Of course, we don’t mean we love them in the same way.
The love John is speaking of in these verses is the kind of love Christians were to have for other believers. Not necessarily believers in their personal family. Those in their church. Those in their community. That’s not quite so easy is it?
Of course, if you have a family that also believes, then you have the double blessing of loving them in two ways. But say that is true. What if you have a problem with someone in your family that is also a Christian? What if you simply cannot love that person?
According to the Bible, it’s not okay to hate your family – especially if you both believe. Actually, it’s not okay to hate anyone because Jesus said we are even to love our enemies.
The reason we are to love each other is to show God’s love to the world. If we love those who are hard to love, those who don’t love us in return, those who have hurt us, especially if we are both believers, we are doing something that we can only do by the grace of God. And loving each other shows God’s grace can make a difference in our lives.
Loving is hard. Loving like Jesus is actually impossible. But by His grace working through us, we can. We must. Love as we’ve been loved. Such love may or may not change those who don’t love us.
But it will definitely change us.
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