1 John 4:19-21

1 John 4:19-21

We love because He first loved us.  If anyone should say that he loves God and he should hate his brother he is a liar.  For the one who does not love the brother whom he has seen is not powerful enough to love the God whom he has not seen.  And we have this commandment from Him in order that the one who loves God should also love his brother.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I believe there is a greater point in verse 19 that we typically miss.  It is so easy for us to hear “if a person should hate his brother” and then feel immediate guilt.  We say to ourselves, “I know at least one Christian brother or sister that I have a difficult time loving.”  And then we fall into the trap of wondering if we are liars and aren’t actually following God.  I don’t actually think that is John’s major point – although it is certainly true.  If we love God we should love our brothers and sisters.  But we’ve dealt with that point earlier in this chapter.  I think John’s greater point in this verse is at the end where John declares “he is a liar.”  In other words, John is saying that if a person claims to love God but doesn’t love a Christian brother or sister then he is not practicing what he is preaching.  I don’t think John is laying out this statement as a challenge about whether we are saved or not.  I think John is laying this expression out as a challenge for us to practice what we preach.  He’s not saying, “If you don’t love your brother you then you don’t really love God.”  Rather, it’s an exhortation!  He’s saying, “Come on!  If you love God then step up to the plate and love the ones you think are unloveable!”  In other words, John is exhorting us to put true love – God’s sacrificial forgiving love – on display.  This brings us back to the opening part of this verse.  We love because God first loved us.  This is a call to action, not an attempt to get us to doubt our salvation.  Go!  Love!

Where in your life do you need to let go of hatred or anger and allow God’s love to replace it?  What will this ultimately do for you?

Second Thought:

I think it is important to bring back the conversation on invitation and challenge that I had in my thoughts a few days back.  When talking about love, it is easy to see how invitation fits into the conversation.  After all, we usually think of love as something pleasant and something into which we want to be included.  This makes love a natural part of invitation.  However, it is also easy to feel the challenge as we study what genuine love really is and what it meant for God: self-sacrifice leading to forgiveness.  The truth is that it is not easy to love all those whom God loves.  It is not easy to abandon both anger and fear.  When John talks about love in this letter, what seems at first to be such an inviting conversation all of a sudden feels like a ton of challenge.  I believe that is natural to the topic of love.  As God draws us into His love, we are simultaneously exposed to areas of our life where we need to change and grow and mature in that love.  There is a natural give and take between invitation and challenge with respect to love.

Where do you feel the invitation to love and be loved?  Where do you feel the challenge to love and be loved?

Third Thought:

As I was doing study on this passage, I came across an interesting quote in William Barclay’s commentary on 1 John.  In that book in the section on these verses, Barclay quotes C.H. Dodd, of whom I had never heard before today.*  Barclays says, “As C. H. Dodd admirably puts it, ‘The energy of love discharges itself along lines which form a triangle, whose points are God, self, and neighbor.’”  I believe there is some concrete truth here in this quote and it goes back to what John is saying.  If we love God, then we should strive to love creation as God loves creation.  As you are a part of creation, you need to love yourself as God loves you.  As the people around you are a part of creation, you need to love the rest of creation as God loves it.  Of course, we are not God.  So there will occasionally be a struggle with loving ourselves or loving others.  But that still is the goal – even if completely unattainable.  We need to try and grow closer to God’s love because that is a natural outcome of having His love in the first place.

When is it easy for you to love yourself?  When is it difficult?  When is it easy to love the people around you?  When is it difficult?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 John 5:1-5

* Note: I did some research.  C.H. Dodd was a Welsh theologian who lived from 1884-1973.  He was particularly known for asserting “realized eschatology.”  This is the teaching that in the Gospels when Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God that he was teaching about an experience that we can have now and not just something to experience after the second coming of Christ.  This was new in his day, but it is the common understanding in today’s theology. 

I personally believe this is why Jesus’ first missional message in both Matthew and Mark is: “Repent and believe, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.”  Jesus doesn’t say “the kingdom of heaven is drawing near.”  Nor does He say, “The kingdom of heaven will draw near.”  He says, “The kingdom of heaven has drawn near.”  This is perfect tense, implying that the kingdom has already come and we will continue to feel the effects of its coming.