It’s a hard lesson. It never goes away. We are tasked with demonstrating it daily. We can unfollow, unfriend, and even block Christians on social media, but we are still required to love them. We must love Christians even when they espouse views we strongly disagree with. We are to love them even when they say and write hurtful things.
God calls Christians to love one another. In 1 John 3:23, the apostle John writes, “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” It’s no surprise that the commandment to love one another appears nearly twenty times in the New Testament.First John 3:11 states, “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” The first part of the verse, “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning,” summarizes what followers of Christ had previously been taught through the apostles, and he reminded them of many things, including the need to walk in the light, stay focused on God, remain committed to God, and recall and do what God commanded.
Loving one another is chief among the prerequisites to abiding in God’s love. John wrote, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). Similarly, in 1 John 4:11, he says, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” John doesn’t just tell us to love; he also explains why we need to love.
Christians must live lives of love because God is love, and God first loved us (1 John 4:8; John 3:16). This is not a one-time occurrence where we display love for a few people. Loving people, including non-Christians, should be part of our daily, transformed lives in Christ. God showed his unconditional love by allowing His Son to die on the cross for our sins, and He expects us to show unconditional love for others.
Of course, loving one another involves loving fellow Christians. In his concluding thoughts, the Hebrews writer says, “Let brotherly love continue” (Heb. 13:1). One might think that loving fellow Christians would be easy and automatic. Yet this is not the case. We aren’t necessarily raised in baptism loving fellow believers. Our hearts must be transformed, and, honestly, some people are easier to love than others. Still, we have an obligation to love even the unlovable. How can Christians lead the effort to love and be the light of the world that God requires if we don’t genuinely love each other? We can’t.
It’s also significant that Hebrews 13:1 says to let brotherly love “continue.” There is an expectation that Christians are already loving each other. God wants us to make sure we keep doing it.
One way we demonstrate love for one another is mentioned in Paul’s letter to the Romans. In Romans 12:10, Paul writes, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.” If we are honest, we don’t always do a good job preferring one another. Some tend to prefer Christians who look like them or have the same socio-economic status. Others tend to prefer Christians who share their political views.
Our personal “preferences” can go on and on. As Christians, we are commanded to prefer one and love one another simply because we are God’s children. We are to be united by the blood of Christ rather than our socio-political views or personal preferences. So the next time you see a post on social media that you vehemently disagree with, or the next time you hear a brother or sister say something off-putting, remember to love others anyway.
Let’s begin the New Year with bowed heads and loving hearts.